WGA/1/8
Sponsored by Amogh Kakumanu, Bresden Hassler, Ammar Uzzaman, Henry Thurman of Ravenwood High School
The delegates above represented the Delegation of Liberia.
This legislation was filed in the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural category
Presented as part of the MUN B 2023 conference
| 1 | To the 2023 General Assembly of The United Nations; |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Noting with grave concern that Liberia's Human Capital Index ranks among the lowest, surpassing |
| 4 | only three countries out of 174, with a score as low as 0.32; |
| 5 | |
| 6 | Acknowledging that most Liberian children only complete 4.2 years of schooling by the time they |
| 7 | turn 18. Factoring the amount they learn, the years of education comes down to 2.2 years; |
| 8 | |
| 9 | Contemplating the fact that 47.3 percent of the Liberian population has never attended school, |
| 10 | significantly surpassing the regional average of 34 percent; |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Expressing concern that Liberia allocates only 2.6 percent (2022) of its GDP for education, falling |
| 13 | far behind the global average of 4.9 percent; |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Recognizing that Liberia spends the third lowest per learner among ECOWAS countries: Benin, |
| 16 | Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, |
| 17 | Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo; |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Mindful that 80-85 percent of students enrolled in early childhood education are three to six years |
| 20 | older than the appropriate age for their grade; |
| 21 | |
| 22 | Keeping in mind that the majority of wealthy families send their children to private, well-funded |
| 23 | schools, and the majority of poverty-stricken families do not send their children to school or send |
| 24 | them to a government school lacking in teaching and materials; |
| 25 | |
| 26 | Conscious of the significant gender disparity in literacy rates, with 62.7 percent of males being |
| 27 | literate and only 34.09 percent of females being literate; |
| 28 | |
| 29 | Concerned that with an increasing population, children in Liberia have fewer opportunities to |
| 30 | receive education and many schools are becoming overcrowded; |
| 31 | |
| 32 | Expressing concern that Liberia has one of the world's highest drop-out rates, with an estimated |
| 33 | 15 percent not in class; |
| 34 | |
| 35 | Aware that only 37 percent of children enroll in primary school, and approximately 54 percent of |
| 36 | children complete primary education; |
| 37 | Bearing in mind that there is an undersupply of teachers and learning materials, noting that half of |
| 38 | 44,000 teachers are unqualified; |
| 39 | |
| 40 | Expressing deep concern about the prevalence of rote memorization as a predominant teaching |
| 41 | method, which hinders critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills among students; |
| 42 | |
| 43 | Conveys concern about the significant dropout rates among students, particularly girls, due to |
| 44 | factors such as early marriage, child labor, and long distances to schools, further continuing the |
| 45 | cycle of limited education; |
| 46 | |
| 47 | Noting further the fact that 16.6 percent of Liberian children are employed, 78.4 percent of which |
| 48 | in hazardous industries, deemed so by the US Department of Labor, caused by low levels of |
| 49 | educational opportunities throughout the country; |
| 50 | |
| 51 | We the Delegation of Liberia hereby: |
| 52 | |
| 53 | Encourages the United Nation department United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural |
| 54 | Organization to further recognize the importance of the need for more schools and higher-quality |
| 55 | education in Liberia, |
| 56 | |
| 57 | Calls upon the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to provide |
| 58 | 2,848,000 USD this year to build schools, and a yearly sum of 1,650,000 USD for teachers' |
| 59 | salaries and school supplies, |
| 60 | |
| 61 | Directs attention to the building of 36 schools, each costing 79,100 USD, |
| 62 | |
| 63 | Emphasizes the majority of these being in poor counties such as Maryland, Grand Kru, River Gee, |
| 64 | Sinoe, Grand Gedeh, and River Cess, and the capital city Monrovia, |
| 65 | |
| 66 | Note the hiring of 600+ teachers with an average salary of 2,400 USD annually, the majority being |
| 67 | trained beforehand and going to the new schools. Some of the newly trained teachers will go to |
| 68 | schools with a lack of faculty, |
| 69 | |
| 70 | Declares that the school system development and the hiring of teachers will begin on January 1, |
| 71 | 2024, |
| 72 | |
| 73 | Concludes that this resolution will help reach the United Nations fourth Sustainable Development |
| 74 | Goal, Quality Education. |
| 75 | |
| 76 |