By Daniel Garteh
The Ministry of Education has suspended three of its County Education Officers following an investigation conducted by a special Taskforce report.
Recently, the Ministry set up a Special Taskforce to inquire into complaints from parents regarding un-prescribed fees charged by Public School administrators.
As a result of the early findings; the Ministry of Education suspended three (3) of its County Education Officers.
Those suspended include G. Samuel K. S. Bondo, Montserrado 1, Mr. Moses S. Dologbay of Nimba County, and Mr. James G. Gaye Margibi. They were suspended for lack of oversight which led to disregard for policies within their controlled school system.
According to the Ministry their suspension takes effect on October 15, 2019, but failed to mention how long they are suspended for and when they will return to job.
The Ministry communication further explained that the action followed after an all-day deliberation held between the Senior Management Team (SMT) and Education Officers who are the direct representatives of the Minister within these counties.
MOE is at the same time calling on all education stakeholders and public not to transact any matters relative to education management or operations at the county level with the suspended persons until further notice.
The MOE statement read: “The SMT’s engagement, which resulted in the above action, was predicated upon the officers’ lack of appropriate communication of changes made to the prescribed fees charged by the Ministry, which was stipulated in the National Academic Calendar 2019/2020, an act on the part of CEOs considered as disregard for direct instructions and policies of the Ministry of Education.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry said Special its Taskforce remains operational and continuing the probe into complaints originating from other counties as well as analyzing fees charged at private schools.
“The exercise for private schools is meant to measure details of fees charged over the last two academic years, analyze, and report the variance to determine if an increment or fees charged commensurate with the service provided,” the ministry said in a statement.
Parents and guardians in Liberia have been complaining about astronomical increment in tuition and school fees for academic 2019/2020 at various private and mission schools across the country.
