By: J. Mason Kollie / Lofa County Correspondent
Voinjama City, Lofa County – Saturday, September 2, 2025 – The Ministry of Education has officially set September 1, 2025, as the reopening date for schools across the country for the 2025–2026 academic year.
According to a release issued two weeks ago by the Ministry, the academic year will formally commence on the stated date. However, with the deadline already at hand, some proprietors and administrators of both private and public schools in Lofa are expressing concern over the low turnout of students for the ongoing registration exercise.
“We are not really seeing students or parents coming to register for the upcoming academic year,” said Mr. Kolubah Akoi, proprietor of Akoi’s Royal Academy High School in Voinjama, during an interview.
Several school proprietors and administrators who spoke to our reporter attributed the low registration to economic hardship. They explained that many students and parents are still in their villages and towns, struggling to earn daily income and save money for school fees.
“We aren’t even sure if we will be able to begin classes on the date set by the Ministry of Education,” a private school principal, who preferred anonymity, told a reporter of RRNN in a recent interview.
Some market women in Voinjama also confirmed the situation, citing the poor business climate as a major reason for delaying their children’s registration.
“Imagine, my brother, sometimes we put our goods outside the whole day and can’t even make LD$100 profit. We are living from the market money every day, so how do you expect us to register our children?” asked Krubo Varmah, a single mother, in an unpleasant tone.
The slow pace of student registration is having a greater impact on private schools, which depend largely on tuition and fees to pay teachers. By comparison, public schools are cheaper and often easier for parents to enroll their children in. Nevertheless, private schools continue to play a critical role in filling educational gaps, especially in areas where public schools are not available.
Meanwhile, private school proprietors in Lofa are appealing to the Government of Liberia to provide subsidies to sustain their operations.
“Let the Government help us with subsidies because we depend only on student fees to pay our teachers. With the current registration challenge, we truly need government support so our interventions will not be hindered,” one school proprietor emphasized.
