Liberia's education minister says she finds it hard to
believe that not a single candidate passed this year's
university admission exam. Nearly 25,000 school-
leavers failed the test for admission to the University
of Liberia, one of two state-run universities. The
students lacked enthusiasm and did not have a basic
grasp of English, a university official told the BBC.
Liberia is recovering from a brutal civil war that
ended a decade ago. 'Dreams shattered' President
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Nobel peace laureate,
recently acknowledged that the education system
was still "in a mess", and much needed to be done to
improve it. Many schools lack basic education
material and teachers are poorly qualified, reports
the BBC's Jonathan Paye-Layleh from the capital,
Monrovia. However, this is the first time that every
single student who wrote the exam for a fee of $25
(£16) has failed, our reporter says. It means that the
overcrowded university will not have any new first-
year students when it reopens next month for the
academic year. Students told him the result was
unbelievable and their dreams had been shattered,
our reporter adds. Education Minister Etmonia David-
Tarpeh told the BBC Focus on Africa programme that
she intended to meet university officials to discuss
the failure rate. "I know there are a lot of weaknesses
in the schools but for a whole group of people to take
exams and every single one of them to fail, I have my
doubts about that," Ms David-Tarpeh said. "It's like
mass murder." Ms David-Tarpeh said she knew some
of the students and the schools they attended.
"These are not just schools that will give people
grades. I'd really like to see the results of the
students," she added. University spokesman
Momodu Getaweh told Focus on Africa that the
university stood by its decision, and it would not be
swayed by "emotion". "In English, the mechanics of
the language, they didn't know anything about it. So
the government has to do something," he said. "The
war has ended 10 years ago now. We have to put
that behind us and become realistic.". www.simaoatbpress..com/2013/08/liberia-students-all-fail-university.html?m=1