By
Edmund Zar-Zar Bargblor
Former Deputy Managing Director,
Liberia National Port Authority, NPA
(Educator)
At the Tchien District Development Association Annual Convention
Our Lady of Sorrow Hall
1030 N 48th Street, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
April 4, 2015
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Officers and members of the Tchien District Development Association in the Americas, fellow Liberians, Ladies and gentlemen.
May I take this time to express my appreciation to the Planning Committee of this association, for inviting me here as the keynote speaker. Indeed, I am honored by your invitation. May I also have the honor to convey my admiration to all members of the Planning Committee for the outstanding job of bringing us together here today. Ladies and gentlemen, please stand and applause the good work of this committee.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am moved by the sentiments expressed here tonight. The reading of my profile, made me to feel as if the speaker was talking about someone else. I was saying to myself, whom is this young Grand Gedean talking about here tonight? I am grateful for the kind sentiments which the young Grand Gedian expressed eloquently about me . Thank you very much my friend.
Ladies and Gentlemen, today is a blessed day. It is a time for us to reflect and remember our good days in Grand Gedeh County. It is also a day to remember those friends and other relatives who cannot be here with us, because they have left us. But most importantly, it is a day for us to formulate plans in order to create a better tomorrow for our children and ourselves. The question on the minds of most Liberians is, what can each one of us do to help our nation gets back on her feet after years of civil war? In my presentation here today, I will endeavor to provide a different perspective in this endeavor. At no time in the history of Liberia has the need to be of service more evident, more demanding and more critical than now. The development of post war Liberia requires each one of us to put aside our individual selfish-intentions and reach out to the needs of the nation.
I will briefly discuss with you my topic entitled: The Brief Overview of the Academic Institutions in Grand Gedeh County, Liberia. In this discussion, I will focus my discussion on the secondary schools within Grand Gedeh County; their academic performances will be analyzed.
May also I express my deepest respect and admiration to the founding fathers of this organization for the vision to put into reality the establishment of this organization. The goals of institution are indeed noble in its goals and objectives. In fact, the objectives of this institution lent itself to the practical application of the goal of development as envisioned by the Unity Party led Government of President Sirleaf. The Grand Gedeh Developmental Agenda advances three essential components, such as Health, Road Development in the county and the improvement in Education. Your determination to foster and undertake developmental initiatives in the county is consisted with the vision of the people of Grand Gedeh County and the Liberian Government when they jointly produced the Grand Gedeh Developmental Agenda.
The 2014 WAEC Results
The participation of students in Grand Gedeh County and their performance in the The 2014 WAEC Results present a situation of urgent concern. The results of the Junior high students that took the WAEC EXAMS are as follow:
The List of Junior High Schools 2014 W A E C results
1. Toe Memorial Institute Jr. High 2 students All failed
2. Tuzon Junior High 3 students All failed
3. Ghorho Central Jr. High section 15 students all passed
4. Dorr Jr. High 8 students 7 passed 1 failed
5. Johnny Garley Memorial Jr. high 11 students all passed
6. Precious Jewels Jr. High 7 students, 4 passed, 3 failed.
Accordingly, 25% of the students failed and 75% passed, this is a good result. But, this situation needs to be improved. The Junior high school students did well on the average. Now let us look at the senior high school students.
The 2014 WAEC Results of Students in Grand Gedeh County
Name of School Total of students who took the Exam # of students who passed the Exam # of students who failed the Exam
Zwedru Multilateral High School 173 students 12 passed 161 failed
Tubman Wilson Institute 82 students 0 passed 82 failed
Gborho Central High School 6 students 0 passed 6 failed
Konobo Central High 4 students 0 passed 4 failed
M. Nixon Garlo Lutherance High School 82 students 5 passed 77 failed
Sua Memorial Institute 64 students 9 passed 55 failed
Toe Memorial Institute 2 students 0 passed 2 failed
Borkay High School 6 students 2 passed 4 failed
Bishop Juwle High School 42 students 37 passed 5 failed
Total students failed at the high school in the WAEC, is about 396 out of 461 students that took the exam. This represents about 85.9%, this means that 85.9% of the high school students that took the WAEC in 2014 in Grand Gedeh County failed and only 14.1% passed. This is no good and something needs to be done to improve the situation.
The 2014 WAEC Results of Students in Grand Gedeh County
| Name of School | Total of students who took the Exam | # of students who passed the Exam | # of students who failed the Exam |
| Zwedru Multilateral High School | 173 students | 12 passed | 160 failed |
| Tubman Wilson Institute | 82 students | 0 passed | 82 failed |
| Gborho Central High School | 6 students | 0 passed | 6 failed |
| Konobo Central High | 4 students | 0 passed | 4 failed |
| M. Nixon Garlo Lutherance High School | 82 students | 5 passed | 75 failed |
| Sua Memorial Institute | 64 students | 9 passed | 55 failed |
| Toe Memorial Institute | 2 students | 0 passed | 2 failed |
| Borkay High School | 6 students | 2 passed | 4 failed |
| Bishop Juwle High School | 42 students | 37 passed | 5 failed |
Total students failed at the high school in the WAEC, is about 393 out of 463 students that took the exam. This represents about 85%, this means that 85% of the high school students that took the WAEC in 2014 in Grand Gedeh County failed and only 15% passed. This is no good and something needs to be done to improve the situation.
Listed of Senior high schools teachers in Grand Gedeh County with B.Sc degrees
1. Zwedru Multilateral high school 13 Teachers
2. Tubmam Wilson high school 11 Teachers
3. Suah Memorial High School 5 Teachers
4. Gborho Central High school 3 Teachers
5. Mike Tuleh Wilson High school 4 Teachers
6. M.Nixon Garlo High School 6 Teachers
7. R.B Richardson Bapist High School 7 Teachers
8. Wochirrc High 6 Teachers
9. Konobo Central High School 5 Teachers
10. Borkay High School 9 Teachers
11. Toe Memorial Institute 5 Teachers
12. Solid Foundation High School 4 Teachers
What can the Tchien District Development Association do to improve the situation?
This organization must endeavor to provide the following items to each of the high schools that are located within the Tchien District.
1. One computer and printer for each school
2. One photo copy machine for each school
3. One tiger generator for each school
4. School library with text books for each school.
Thomas Jefferson was correct when he said in a letter to one of his friends in 1816: “Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like the evil spirits at the dawn of day.” If we want for the youth of Grand Gedeh to have a happy future, we must endeavor to provide them with the necessary educational tools to enrich their learning process. Education is the foundation of any society. It is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another. The history of education reflects human history itself – the history of the knowledge, beliefs, skills and cultures of humanity. We must make sure that the doors to all the schools in Grand Gedeh continue to remain open now and forever, for every young Grand Gedian who needs an education.
We have paid a price for allowing ignorance of mind and spirit to dominate our national culture. In the past, the founding fathers of Liberia, used education as a tool to keep us down and to keep us ignorant. We have suffered so much as a people and as a nation to again allow this enemy to dwell amongst us. Never again, should we allow others to use Education as a means of keeping us down in Liberia, Never again.
As Horace Mann said: “Education, then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, – the balance-wheel of the social machinery.”
Ladies and Gentlemen, may I reaffirm my deepest appreciation to the members of the Tchien District Development for my presence here tonight. Let us endeavor to provide equal education opportunities to all the children of Grand Gedeh County. The Liberia Government can’t do it alone. We must form a partnership with the government in the areas of health, education and roads development. This is the time for each one of us to give back to the people of Grand Gedeh County…Indeed, the development of Grand Gedeh County is not the people’s thing, but it is a responsibility of all of us. I am confident; the spirits of our forefathers will guide and bless us all.
In closing, I would like to leave you with the words of a Poem, entitled: Grand Gedeh We Praise Your Name
Grand Gedeh we praise your Name!
For you , you gave us birth
And the time is now for all of us, to see ourselves as one.
1. Let me walk down the highway, where my brothers/sister are in Peace
Let me go into our great country, where the land meets the sky
2. Let me drink from the water, where the mountain’s stream flows
Let the smells of the land and of the trees, flow freely through my blood………
3. From the East and from the West All will gather soon
And the song they sing is a song of hope, the Hope for all Mankind.
Grand Gedeh we praise your name, for you, you gave us birth
And the time is now for all of us to see ourselves as one.
Thank you ladies and gentlemen.
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About the Author: Former Deputy Managing Director, Liberia’s National Port Authority, currently Mr. Edmund Zar-Zar Bargblor is an Educator within the Providence School Department, Providence, Rhode Island. He is a graduate of Cuttington University Liberia, Howard University, Washington, D.C, and Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel. Mr. Bargblor was Vice President of the Liberian Community Association of Rhode Island and President of the African Catholic Community of Rhode Island, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Grand Gedeh Association. He can be contacted at: [email protected]
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