MONROVIA – Acting Minister of Education Atty. Nyekeh Forkpa announced that the Liberian government has removed 1,000 nonperforming teachers from the national payroll and is replacing them with qualified volunteer teachers as part of nationwide education reforms. The announcement was made during a Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT) press briefing in Monrovia on Thursday, September 18, 2025.
Forkpa shared updates following a nationwide county tour that assessed staffing, infrastructure, and service delivery across the country. “We reviewed our payroll and noticed that some teachers who had been assigned to various counties to teach our children had abandoned their duties but were still receiving salaries without working. We invited those teachers to report, but when they refused to show up, we removed 1,000 names from the payroll,” the Acting Minister said.
The Ministry has coordinated with the Civil Service Agency (CSA) to integrate qualified volunteers into the system. “Out of 1,000 volunteers, 417 have already been processed and will receive salaries for the month of September. The remaining batch is being processed and will be added to the payroll to begin receiving salaries in October,” Forkpa confirmed.
In addition to replacing nonperforming teachers, the Ministry has implemented salary increments for over 9,000 teachers nationwide to boost morale and improve education delivery. “When the Education Minister took over, we carried out an exercise and identified 6,198 volunteer teachers. From that process, we conducted another round to determine the qualified ones. Out of this, we discovered 2,000 teachers and engaged with the Ministry of Finance and the Legislature to have them placed on the payroll. However, the Ministry of Finance informed us that it could only absorb 1,000 teachers at that time,” he explained.
The Acting Minister warned against classroom abandonment and instructed school administrators to follow the national academic calendar strictly. “Disruptions will not be tolerated,” Forkpa said, emphasizing that accountability and dedication are crucial to the success of Liberia’s education reforms.
The Ministry also announced plans to expand access to safe learning environments, with new schools opening in Bong and Nimba Counties this academic year. A modern facility in Kakata, Margibi County, is in the final stages of construction. Forkpa stressed that transforming Liberia’s education system requires collaboration, transparency, and consistent delivery, while reaffirming the Ministry’s commitment to strengthening teaching, improving facilities, and ensuring accountability at every level.
According to Ministry data, the education reform initiative has achieved several milestones: 6,196 volunteer teachers verified nationwide; 1,000 abandoned positions replaced by trained volunteers; 2,084 names submitted to the CSA for recruitment; 417 volunteers to receive salaries in September; over 6,000 additional applications under review; and more than 9,000 teachers benefiting from salary top-ups, with lobbying ongoing for 1,000 more volunteers to join the national payroll.
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