Scores of elementary students in central Monrovia on Monday blocked the main street in protest of their teachers’ unpaid salaries allegedly owned them by the government.
Neatly dressed in their blue and white uniforms, the young and aggrieved students used broken chairs , sticks and other materials to block the main route thereby impending the free movement of cars and pedestrians.
The situation which many concerned dramatic but very serious also saw some of the young kids sitting on chairs on the main road while others in good number sang and changed slogan calling for their teachers to get their salaries in order for them to return to classes.
Currently, the students are not learning anything because their teachers have boycotted classes in demand of their salaries, an administrator told our reporter.
According to some educators, the scene created by the elementary students appears to be the first of its kind and has also protary a negative image about the education system including the Country at large.
“Linking President Boakai to the situation as head of State, some angry parents who went on the scene to help remove their children from the main streets stated that President Boakai’s government has set a new and shameful record for the Country which will not be easily forgotten.
“Imagine, we send out children to school to learn and not to be seen protesting “, this is embarrassing, the government needs to address this issue now in order for our kids to return to classes “, one of the parents of the protesters noted.
Students Protest in Liberia is not unusual but seeing kids below ages of fifteen in the main street protesting in demand of their teachers to return to classes rings a bell as urgent attention to arrest the situation needs to be taken, added, another parent.
What is still unclear is whether those young kids were brain- washed to stage the protest or was it a willing and free-way exercise due to the absence of their teachers from classes.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education is yet to provide official statement in relations to the kids Monday’s protest.
