MONROVIA, LIBERIA-Education Minister, Dr. Jarso Jallah, says the Ministry of Education will enroll an additional one thousand qualified volunteer teachers onto the government payroll, using funds allocated in this year’s national budget.
The Minister made the disclosure on Wednesday, May 3, 2026, during an appearance on ELBC Radio, where she outlined the ministry’s key priorities and ongoing reforms across Liberia’s Education Sector.
Dr. Jallah said,” The Education Sector is currently in a pivotal period of transition, moving away from isolated short-term interventions toward a more systemic and comprehensive reform of the entire K through 12 continuum”.
Education Minister, Dr. Jarso Jallah, says the government will introduce capitation grants to public primary schools, eliminating registration fees and allowing parents to simply bring their children to school without any financial burden.
The Minister further described the initiative as one of the most significant steps this government has taken for ordinary Liberian families.
Dr. Jallah said,” The capitation grants will be structured with strict accountability measures at the school level to ensure transparent and responsible use of the funds across all public primary schools nationwide”.
She further disclosed that the EXCEL project has officially begun, with Madam Maria Numa appointed as Project Coordinator, and pilot schools already selected for testing revised teaching and learning materials starting from the kindergarten level.
The Minister said through the EXCEL project, the government will also take over the cost of the national learning assessment at grades three and six, removing that financial burden entirely from parents who previously had to pay for their children to participate.
Dr. Jallah also revealed that she recently received a continental fellowship award from the Africa Federation of Regulatory Authorities for Teaching (AFTRA), describing the recognition as a humbling validation of Liberia’s collective education reform efforts and not a personal victory.
She further disclosed that the ministry will soon hire one hundred and fifty monitoring and evaluation supervision interns to support District Education Officers in counties, ensuring schools comply with rules and regulations or face closure.
The Minister said girls’ enrollment is showing an upward trend, but stressed that retention and completion of girls in school remains a critical priority requiring urgent and sustained attention nationwide.
She also disclosed that Liberia has made a global commitment to the School Meal Coalition to expand school feeding from the current eighteen percent to forty-five percent of the primary school population by 2029.
At the same time, Dr. Jarso Jallah has issued a stern warning to private schools that have refused to comply with the government’s geo-mapping and school quality assessment process, saying the ministry knows their names and locations.
The Minister stressed that both public and private schools must meet the ministry’s quality standards or face consequences.
Dr. Jallah added that the ministry has completed geo-mapping of schools in five counties, Montserrado, Rivercess, Sinoe, Bopolu, and Bomi, and is moving steadily to complete the remaining counties nationwide.
She revealed that permitted schools have grown dramatically from approximately eight hundred when the current administration took over to over two thousand schools currently holding valid operating permits nationwide.
The Minister said,” The ministry has also digitized its school permitting process, moving away from pen and paper to a fully digital system that ensures greater transparency, accountability, and compliance across the Education Sector”.
Dr. Jallah further disclosed that a comprehensive teacher wellbeing survey has provided the ministry with deeper insight into teachers’ concerns, revealing that professional development pathways matter just as much as compensation to Liberian teachers.