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Donation of benches to schools

OBTL’s inaugural donation of benches was in Yarpuah Town, Lofa County where 25 benches produced locally by carpenters were purchased and donated to the Yarpuah Community School. Additional 30 benches were donated to two schools in Salayea District; namely: Flomo Respect Memorial School in Yarpuah and the Gbangway Public School in Gbangway. These donations targeted 275 students (average of 5 students per bench).  Communities do benefit from the benches as they can be used for school and non-school activities including PTA and general town’s meetings. Purchasing the benches locally is not only cheaper but promotes the local economy and increases the logistical capacities of rural poor schools.  The average cost per bench was US$25 (now $40 due to inflation).  This amount includes cost of production, storage and transportation of benches at site of donation.

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Some issues identified during assessment visits and donation ceremonies

Although the Government of Liberia has since announced free primary school, there remains concerns that parents are still being charged such fees as registration.  One of the common excuses is that the fees are intended to compensate teachers who are not on Government of Liberia payroll.  In the case of community schools that are entirely run and managed by motivated community members, the story is different.  During donation of benches to schools in Lofa County, OBTL observed that some of the school buildings are made out of local structures like sticks and palm fronds.  Students sit on anything that is available such as bricks while the floor of most classrooms are without cement.  For example, the District Education Officer of one of the districts in Lofa recommended to OBTL to consider putting cement floor in classrooms where benches are donated so that the students do not sit in a dusty or muddy classrooms to learn.

 

 

Some parents spoken to indicated that they were faced with the burden of purchasing school supplies for their children including uniforms, pencils, notebooks, shoes, sneakers, sharpeners and erasers among others. With little Government support to public learning institutions in the country, parents who have to bear brunt of the burdens are often left with no option but to take their children out of school, a situation which undermines school enrollment and efforts to educate the children of Liberia. 

Response option:

With schools now open, OBTL seeks support to provide back to school kits to 850 primary students from 5 rural poor schools in Bong and Lofa Counties (3 in Lofa, 2 in Bong).  The back to school package would include the below table:

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Item                  Unit of Measure            Unit Per Student          # of Students         Total Quantity     Unit Cost (USD)              Total Cost (USD)

Notebooks              Pcs                                  3                                850                              2,550                      $1.50                          $3,825

Pencils                     Pcs                                  1dz                            850                              2,550                      $3.00                           $7,650

Sharpeners              Pcs                                  2                                850                             1,700                          .50                              $850

Book Bags               Pcs                                  1                                850                                850                    $20.00                         $17,000