MONROVIA, Montserrado –President-elect George Manneh Weah has vowed to continue the commitment started by the outgoing President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on ECOWAS’ Vision 2020 goal to promote education as a human right for all.

He made the statement at the ECOWAS Human Rights Day celebration held at the Bella Cassa Hotel on January 16, 2018.

Weah said rebuilding Liberia’s education system after 14 years of civil war has been and will continue to be a significant challenge.

“The war did not only destroy our educational infrastructures but [it] also changed our attitude towards education and created a huge demand for quality teachers and professors for our schools, vocational institutes and universities,” he said.

“President Sirleaf has done her part and we are committed to doing more with giant steps. We hope and trust that with our overwhelming political will, our partners in ECOWAS and the international community will give us their unflinching support.”

Weah committed to the ideals of viewing access to education as a human right: “We agree that the denial of access to education is indeed a human rights violation and the inability of any child to access education because of the absence of school, sub-standard school, or high cost of schooling, constitutes a denial of that child’s right to education.”

He continued, “I am sure that with the collective efforts and dedication, we can together achieve the Vision 2020 goal of the ECOWAS in promoting education as human rights obligation of all West African governments to our children.”

Also speaking at the event was outgoing President Sirleaf, who noted that if human rights must be promoted in the region, it is necessary to focus on the education of women and children.

The first female president in Africa further said Liberia has made several progresses in the education sector, but that challenges still remain. While there are now 1.5 million Liberian children enrolled in schools (a more than 50 percent increase since she took office) there are still 17 percent of school-aged children out of school.

“The government has recognized that there can be no learning without teachers; the government, through the Ministry of Education, has established a program to train teachers and the establishment of vocational institutes as a way of empowering our education system,” she said.

She said from 2006 to 2015, the government constructed 2,500 schools and 16 vocational institutes across the country to rebuild the education system.

“We look forward to you, Mr. President-elect, to continue the work in our education system and ensure that our students are on par with the world in the digital technology world,” Sirleaf said.

Featured photo by Aaron Nah