Over 100 Students Per Class at Public School

ROBERTSFIELD HIGHWAY, Liberia, October 15, 2026 – Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung has announced plans to expand the overcrowded June L. Moore Public School along the Robertsfield Highway, following complaints from residents and school authorities over inadequate classrooms and deteriorating learning conditions.

The Vice President, accompanied by Education Minister Dr. Jarso M. Jallah and other government officials, toured the school in Gbengbar Town on Wednesday, October 14, to assess conditions and identify possible interventions.

The school serves communities stretching from Lower R-2 to Thinkers Village and operates three sessions, morning, evening, and night, with some classrooms accommodating more than 100 students.

During the visit, school administrators and community leaders appealed for additional classrooms, improved roads, reliable water supply and the establishment of a technical and vocational training center to empower women and young people.

Speaking to journalists following the assessment, Koung said he had previously dispatched a team from his office to investigate complaints about overcrowding but decided to visit the facility personally with the Education Minister.

He described the situation as urgent and disclosed that engineers had been instructed to redesign an initial one-story building proposal into a two-story structure to accommodate more students.

“This is the first architectural design the engineers brought for one floor, but we are thinking of a two-story building. Therefore, they are going to redesign and come back to us,” Koung explained.

He said his office would work with the Ministry of Finance to secure funding through the national budget while seeking additional support from philanthropists.

“The school has three sessions: morning, evening, and night. So, the school is overcrowded because it serves communities from Lower R-2 to Thinkers Village. We intend to improve it, and work will start soon,” he assured residents.

Koung further disclosed that the Community is considering a World Bank-supported elementary school project in Gbengbar Town, provided the community transfers ownership of the proposed land to the Ministry of Education.

According to him, the proposed facility would accommodate kindergarten through sixth-grade students, while additional buildings would serve junior and senior high school students.

He welcomed the community’s willingness to facilitate the land transfer, stressing that securing the property would be essential to advancing the project.

“We don’t intend to close the school while working,” Koung said, explaining that construction would begin on available land to allow academic activities to continue.

The Vice President also addressed concerns about poor roads and inadequate water supply, promising government intervention.

He said the government would ask the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation to assess the community’s water challenges for immediate attention.

Regarding road construction, Koung explained that the government had initially prioritized severely damaged roads in other parts of the country, particularly routes connecting Grand Bassa, Sinoe, Nimba and River Gee counties.

He assured residents that the government would also address their road concerns as resources become available.

On the proposed vocational training center, Koung said the government would assess its feasibility, noting that establishing such an institution requires qualified instructors and technical resources beyond constructing a building.

Meanwhile, community leaders welcomed the Vice President’s intervention, hoping the promised school expansion and other infrastructure improvements would ease longstanding challenges facing students and residents.

The proposed expansion is expected to reduce classroom congestion and improve learning conditions at June L. Moore Public School once funding is secured and construction is completed.