The_Open_Door_deel1

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Greenville, Buchanan, Robertsport and Harper (all A.L.
settlements) (4-9). The first nation-wide population census was
carried out in 1962.
The Educational Situation in 1963
Before the 196O's no planning of educational activities existed.
The first series of data with respect to education resulted from
the 1962 Population Census (see Table 54.). In 1963 a National
School Survey was carried out, the first one ever held, on which
a Five Year Education Plan (1964 - 1968 both inclusive) was
based, published later that year. This Five Year Education Plan
replaced another, Ten Year Plan, and took into account the latest
available information concerning the financial and economic
conditions and prospects for the country, in view of the
financial crisis of the early 196O's (see Chapter 10). Total cost
of the Five Year Plan was estimated at $ 49,012,100. Of this
amount f 28,497,000 was to be paid from current revenues, the
rest from international loans and grants (50). The financial
crisis referred to above and the subsequent impossibility to
finance the Plan might be the (main) reason for the fact that the
1964 - 1968 Education Plan was never carried out.
According to the 1963 Educational Survey there were in that year
471 public elementary schools throughout the country, with 1,429
teachers, and an enrolment of 45,487 pupils. Whereas only 8 per
cent of these schools were situated in the nation's capital they
employed 29 per cent of the country's elementary school teachers.
Fourteen per cent of the pupils of the elementary school lived
in the capital. There were 39,100 pupils (28,636 boys and 10,464
girls) enrolled in the 431 public elementary schools outside
Monrovia, which had 1,013 teachers.
The main problems in the educational field were cited as being:
(1) the lack of adequate school buildings; (2) the limited number
of qualified teachers; (3) the shortage of textbooks and other
instructional materials and equipment, and (4) enormous drop-out
rates (51).
Books and materials being inadequate for the implementation of
the course of study and curriculum guides, many teachers had
problems in deciding just what to teach and how to teach it.
Combined with the classroom conditions and the low salaries paid
the morale of the teaching staff was - generally speaking - very
low. Consequently, absenteeism (of teachers) was very high.
What made things even worse was that over 85 per cent of the
nation's teachers had never received any specific training and
less than half of the teaching staff had received instruction
beyond junior high school level (9th grade).
Two teachers may even have had qualifications below the 6th grade
level as the Survey only specified the educational level of 1,427
teachers (see Table 55).
These inexperienced and insufficiently trained and educated
teachers had to teach a school population which varied
enormously in age and background. For example, in the capital,
first graders alone ranged from 5 years to 24 years in age.