Of the three West African countries most affected by the Ebola crisis, Liberia is the second to re-open schools, following Guinea which did so about a month ago. On Monday, February 16, children were finally able put on their uniforms and return to school to begin classes. Their “summer” break, normally a 2-month hiatus, having lasted more than 7 months.

The Ebola epidemic on the decline

As of February 11, the World Health Organization reported a total number of 8881 Ebola cases in Liberia, with 3826 deaths. At the height of the epidemic, Liberia was reporting a total of more than 100 new cases per week. Currently the number of new cases remain lowest in Liberia, below 10 cases per week, compared to Guinea and Sierra Leone which reported 65 and 75 new cases respectively last week.

The Ebola virus not only closed schools, but forced certain changes in social behaviors: no more handshakes, no more gatherings outside of homes. Instead, hand washing stations have become ubiquitous, and the “hand on heart” gesture has replaced the usual greetings among families and friends.

Coordinated efforts

During the crisis, the Liberian government has been working closely with their partners, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), to coordinate efforts in different sectors. The education sector has contributed to the fight against Ebola through teacher training to raise awareness. Now the Presidency and Ministry of Health, with its partners CDC/WHO are supporting the Ministry of Education to reopen the schools safely.

The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) continues to follow the situation closely and holds regular meetings with the government, USAID (coordinating agency), the World Bank (GPE grant supervising entity), and other agencies including UNICEF and the European Union.

With the reopening of schools, the GPE-financed program will resume providing school grants to cover additional costs that may arise with the opening. This will ensure that schools are able to purchase the necessary materials to make sure instruction can happen. It will also reduce the risk that schools will try to pass on extra costs to poor families which may prevent the most vulnerable children from attending school.

In addition, other planned activities such as school construction and the distribution of textbooks and readers will be implemented.

More work to be done

The government has set March 2 to reopen all schools throughout the country. Even before the crisis, Liberia had a long way to go to ensure all its children could go to school and learn (65% of children completed primary schooling according to UIS). The Ebola epidemic was a huge step back and not all ramifications are clear yet.

Despite the long break due to this crisis, we are glad that children will not lose out on a full year of studies. It is now important to ensure that through adapted programs and accelerated curriculum, they can catch up quickly.

At the Global Partnership for Education, we will continue to support the country through our grants and coordination work with other partners to make sure Liberia gets back on track as quickly as possible.