By Amos Harris
The Liberian Government has begun distributing science laboratory equipment valued at approximately $1 million USD to schools across the country as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen science education in public high schools.
Education Minister Dr. Jarso Maley Jallah stated that the equipment is intended to establish and upgrade science laboratories in various public high schools, providing students with enhanced opportunities for hands-on, practical learning. According to Dr. Jallah, the initiative aligns with President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s broader administration agenda to elevate the quality of education and foster a more effective learning environment for Liberian students.
Highlighting the government’s free tuition and registration policy, the Minister described it as a direct and measurable intervention designed to increase student enrollment, attendance, and retention from Kindergarten through Grade Six.
Speaking at the Ministry of Information’s regular press briefing on Tuesday, Dr. Jallah urged parents to take full advantage of the policy, emphasizing that registration at public primary schools is completely free.
“Parents no longer need to pay money to register a child; simply take the child to any public school,” she said, while encouraging parents to immediately report anyone demanding registration fees.
Dr. Jallah outlined the enforcement mechanisms for both the Free Primary School Registration Policy and the government’s newly Digitized School Operational Permit System, stating that the reforms aim to make primary education genuinely accessible while strengthening regulatory oversight of schools nationwide. She explained that while free registration removes financial barriers for parents, the digitized permit system eliminates uncertainty regarding which schools are legally authorized to operate. She emphasized that neither initiative creates a new law, but rather enforces existing provisions and modernizes the national education structure in line with the Education Reform Act of 2011.
To accommodate the surge in student enrollment resulting from the free registration policy, the Education Minister disclosed that an additional 1,000 teachers will be placed on the government payroll.
Addressing the digitized permit system, Dr. Jallah noted that the platform, launched in November 2025, has fully replaced the former paper-based application process. School administrators can now apply for and renew operational permits online through a transparent, trackable system that provides the Ministry with real-time data on approved institutions.
Dr. Jallah warned that schools operating without valid permits are unauthorized to open and risk facing immediate closure. She revealed that recent geo-mapping and school quality assessments conducted in Sinoe, Rivercess, Montserrado, Bomi, and Gbarpolu counties identified several non-compliant schools operating without valid authorization. The assessment exercise will soon extend to Liberia’s remaining counties, and non-compliant institutions face permanent shutdown.
The Minister maintained that these regulatory measures are primarily designed to protect students, teachers, and school staff from unsafe or unregulated learning environments, rather than to target legitimate school operators who comply with established government standards.