Published: October 24, 2025
BUAH GEEKEN, Grand Kru County — In the dim light of a cracked classroom wall, a dozen children hunch over their notebooks, not on chairs or desks, but on torn tarpaulin sheets spread across the dusty floor. This is what learning looks like at Sally B. Toogbabu Elementary and Junior High School in Grand Kru County, where “modern-day slavery,” as one parent called it, defines the daily struggle for education.
When The Liberian Investigator visited the school on October 23, 2025, the scene was heartbreaking. Most students, particularly those in the Kingdomkadee Division, were sitting cross-legged on the floor, balancing copybooks on their laps. The classrooms, stripped of basic furniture, echoed with the sound of chalk on crumbling walls.
“The building is falling apart. Some parts are already broken down,” said school principal Madam Beaty Williams, her voice heavy with concern. “I’ve already sent a report to the District Education Officer so that something can be done, but we are still waiting.”
The children sit on tarpaulin sheet and press their books on their knees to write their notes
The Sally B. Toogbabu School serves roughly 300 students, many of whom trek several miles each day to attend classes. Yet, their reward for persistence is a decaying structure with no proper desks, no functioning bathrooms, and limited instructional materials.
“Community dwellers also use the school bathrooms, and that makes the campus polluted,” Madam Williams said, adding that plans are underway to build additional restrooms when resources become available.
A National Crisis in Plain Sight
The dire situation at Sally B. Toogbabu reflects a wider problem across Liberia’s public school system, where thousands of students continue to learn without chairs or proper classrooms.
In his 2025 State of the Nation Address, President Joseph Nyuma Boakai lamented these conditions and pledged to restore dignity to the learning environment through the government’s “One Child, One Chair” initiative — a nationwide campaign to provide every Liberian child at the primary level with a proper seat.
“This is not just about chairs,” President Boakai said during the launch earlier this year. “It’s about dignity, hope, and the belief that every child deserves a fair chance to learn.”
The initiative, coordinated by the Ministry of Education, is part of broader reforms under the government’s ARREST development agenda, which targets persistent gaps in infrastructure, teacher training, and resource allocation.
Yet for schools like Sally B. Toogbabu, hope feels distant. Despite repeated government interventions — including a 2021 plan under the Weah administration to distribute 24,000 armchairs — the shortage remains staggering.
According to a 2021 Education Fact Sheet, Liberia has more than 5,400 public schools, many of them in rural areas where students still sit on bricks, planks, or the bare floor.
The board from which the students copy their notes
‘We Still Have Hope’
In Buah Geeken, the community’s resilience stands as the only constant. Parents contribute labor, patching classroom walls and cleaning the compound, while teachers continue to show up despite limited pay and worsening conditions.
“Sometimes we bring our own chairs from home to sit and teach,” said one instructor who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal. “But we stay because we believe education is the only way these children can escape poverty.”
For the students, the dream of sitting in a proper classroom remains alive. Eleven-year-old Blessing Toe, a fourth-grader, smiled shyly when asked what she wished for.
“I just want a chair,” she said softly. “So my uniform won’t get dirty before I go home.”
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