Liberia today. Ministry of Education workers haven't been paid for two years.

A major story from the NY Times/Washington Post today (May 16) gives a chilling insight into life in Liberia today, and puts the notion of the Ministry of Education's offer of accreditation on payment of $50,000 + $20,000 a year in context.

The article, by Somini Sengupta, on the occasion of Liberian President Taylor refusing to meet with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (who has responsibility for the care of over 300,000 Liberians who have fled the country), reports that

* Unemployment is an astonishing 85%.

* The 10% of the citizens who work for the government haven't been paid for over two years.

* 80% of the national budget is spent on defense.

* Nearly half the citizens have been displaced by war and live in refugee camps or on the streets; 11 of the 15 counties are active war zones.

* The President has been harboring al Qaeda and Hezbollah terrorists for years, according to a former inspector general at the Pentagon.

And from the "bullet-riddled capital of this ravaged country [with] no money and no medicines and enemies in neighboring countries arming rebels and plunging Liberia into war" arises the National Board of Education, bestowing the benefits of Liberian accreditation on a small number of foreign um, universities.

 

With the nation in this kind of turmoil perhaps one could negotiate the price of accreditation with the NBE. Say, $50 for a 10 year accreditation period?

 

Well, those little nuggets explain both why Liberian accreditation is being sold, and why it's also worthless.


Bruce

 

Here's a link to the story:

http://www.iht.com/articles/96492.html

and some more info:

http://allafrica.com/stories/200305020001.html