GANTA, Nimba – The Liberia International Christian College has broken grounds for the construction of a secondary school in Ganta to prepare students for higher education.

“This preparatory high school here is going to be more than a unique upskilled high school,” said Saye Boe, who led the groundbreaking. “What we are trying to do is to raise the standard of education in this area for our students to succeed—that’s basically what we are trying to do. This is not a college; this is a preparatory school for you to go to college—it gives you advanced competency and skills that allow you to enter any college or university in this country, and as well as abroad.”

Boe said that the school will include a science lab for physics and chemistry demonstrations, unlike most of Liberia’s secondary schools.

“It will have the regular library, where students will come to read, do assignments—and then, we will also have a computer center here, so that they can also search online for information they can use to educate themselves and get exposed to what it means to get educated in the 21^st century.”

Boe said the school aims to deliver a high quality standard for its students and will use a curriculum that integrates the requirements of the Liberian educational system with those included in international curricula.

“Already, people have started sending in their resumes from even abroad, from teachers who want to come in,” he added. “We are going to make sure that the teachers are competent.”

Boe estimated the cost of the school at US$300,000 and, when including other proposed projects – an elementary school, offices, an underground cafeteria, and a mini-clinic – reaches US$3 million.

However, Boe said there was no money currently available for the project.

“The first thing is, we are trusting God first—there is no simple answer to that; but we are trusting God to provide for us the finance we need for this project,” he said. “We will be talking to our partners and friends of our organization in the U.S.”

Featured photo courtesy of Chestin Polay