Published: October 19, 2026
THE QUALITY OF ANY education system begins with the quality of its teachers. Before a child reaches secondary school or university, someone must teach that child to read, write, count and think critically. When that foundation is weak, everything built upon it becomes vulnerable.
This is why findings by The Liberian Investigator that some teacher-training institutions are offering nine-month “C” Certificate programs, despite the Ministry of Education’s 18-month pre-service standard, demand immediate scrutiny.
Our investigation identified two institutions, LICOSESS College of Education and the Liberia Standard Teacher Training College, offering nine-month programs. LICOSESS reportedly conducts classes on Saturdays.
There is an important distinction. Liberia’s teacher-training framework permits shorter upgrading programs for experienced teachers. Therefore, a nine-month program does not automatically violate the rules.
But the Ministry of Education must answer a fundamental question: Are individuals with little or no classroom experience receiving teaching certificates through programs that fall short of the national pre-service standard?
If so, who authorized those programs, and what safeguards ensure their graduates are adequately prepared?
These questions cannot be dismissed as administrative technicalities. They concern the professional competence of teachers entrusted with shaping Liberia’s next generation.
For years, Liberia has debated poor examination results, inadequate school infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms and insufficient educational funding. Yet one critical question receives far less attention: Are we properly preparing the people responsible for teaching our children?
A teaching certificate should represent professional competence, not simply attendance, tuition payments or completion of a convenient timetable.
Effective primary school teachers must understand child development, literacy instruction, numeracy, classroom management and learning assessment. They must also demonstrate their ability to translate that knowledge into classroom practice.
These competencies cannot be assumed merely because an institution awards a certificate.
More troubling is that the Ministry of Education has already acknowledged serious weaknesses in its oversight system.
Its Education Sector Plan 2022/23–2026/27 identifies inadequate monitoring logistics, inconsistent C Certificate curricula and the absence of a synchronized system for tracking teacher qualifications and professional development.
These are not allegations from outside critics. They are deficiencies documented by the government itself.
The ministry’s planning documents identify 18 private teacher-training institutes, 17 offering C Certificates, alongside universities and public Rural Teacher Training Institutes.
With such an extensive network, regulatory oversight cannot be optional.
A government that establishes professional standards but fails to enforce them risks turning certification into a formality rather than a guarantee of competence.
The historical context makes the current concerns even more significant.
Liberia’s C Certificate originally operated as a nine-month pre-service program before expanding to 12 months, with an 18-month standard planned for the 2017-18 cohort and subsequent intakes.
That progression was intended to strengthen teacher preparation.
If institutions are now training new teachers in nine months without an approved alternative arrangement, the ministry must explain whether the national standard is being followed or quietly undermined.
Education advocate Elizabeth “Liz” Tiaklan has raised a related concern: Liberia invests considerable attention in higher education while neglecting the professionals responsible for children’s earliest learning.
Her warning deserves national reflection.
We cannot expect universities to correct educational deficiencies that began in first grade. Neither can we expect secondary schools to consistently produce strong academic results when students arrive unable to read fluently or perform basic calculations.
Weak foundational education follows children throughout their lives, limiting academic achievement, employment opportunities and national productivity.
This is precisely why teacher preparation must never become a race to award certificates in the shortest possible time.
To be clear, longer training does not automatically guarantee better teachers. An 18-month program without credible instruction, supervised practice and rigorous assessment can be as deficient as a shorter one.
The issue is not duration alone. It is whether institutions meet the standards and deliver the competencies their certificates promise.
The Ministry of Education must now move beyond policy declarations.
It should conduct a nationwide audit of C Certificate programs, distinguish approved in-service upgrading from pre-service training, verify institutional accreditation and examine curricula, instructional hours, teaching practice and graduate assessment.
It must also publish a comprehensive list of authorized institutions and their approved programs.
Institutions operating legitimately deserve public confirmation. Those falling short should face corrective measures and, where warranted, appropriate sanctions under established procedures.
This scrutiny must be transparent, consistent and free of favoritism.
But enforcement must accompany investment.
The ministry’s own historical figures showed that only 45% of lower-basic teachers were trained in 2019-20. Liberia therefore needs more qualified teachers, stronger training institutions and accessible professional development pathways, not weaker standards.
Teacher education must receive the same seriousness accorded to universities, infrastructure and other national development priorities.
The stakes extend far beyond the institutions identified in our investigation.
Every inadequately prepared teacher potentially affects successive classes of children. Every child who leaves primary school without foundational skills faces disadvantages that later interventions may struggle to reverse.
Liberia cannot build a competitive workforce, a productive economy or a knowledgeable society while neglecting the quality of instruction in its earliest classrooms.
The Ministry of Education must establish whether the nine-month programs comply with approved requirements and make its findings public.
Our position is straightforward: No institution should be condemned without evidence, but no institution should be permitted to compromise national teaching standards without accountability.
The future of Liberia’s education system depends not on how quickly certificates are awarded, but on how competently teachers are prepared.
When we cut corners in training teachers, it is Liberia’s children who ultimately pay the price.
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