Liberia students all fail university
admission exam
26 August 2013 Last updated at 19:33
Liberia education system is said to be in a
"mess"
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."
SOURCE: B.B.C.