Africa-Press – Liberia. The absence of an auditorium at the J. W. Pearson Extension School has forced the administration to conduct classes and host school activities, including quizzing competitions, in open spaces on the main campus, raising concerns about inadequate learning facilities.
School principal Jones Kpaleh told the Daily Observer that the school does not have a large indoor space to host students and spectators, limiting the scope of extracurricular activities.
“As you can see, the students are out there doing their quizzing, because we do not have the space to host both the quizzers and the spectators or sharing squad,” he said.
Pearson Extension is among the most populated schools in Ganta and Nimba County, with over 1,000 students enrolled. The school occupies the premises of an old transit center of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), where classrooms are small, ceilings are low, and lighting is inadequate, making it difficult to manage effective classroom instruction.
Although Jeremiah Koung, representative of District 1, constructed a few additional classrooms to ease congestion, the school remains overcrowded, with up to 100 students in a single class at the secondary level.
“As we speak, students still want to enroll, but we put a stop to all admission at this moment, because we do not have the seating capacity for the influx of students,” said the vice principal for instruction.
The influx of students has led to a seating shortage, though the administration reports that 50 desks were fixed this school season to mitigate the crisis.
School officials are appealing to the central government to construct additional school buildings, preferably a storey building, to accommodate the growing student population and support extracurricular activities.
“If the government could build a storey building, the basement could be used for extracurricular activities, including quizzing, debate, concerts, and more,” said the dean of students.
The school has benefited partially from the World IRISE project, which provided a school fence and a mini computer lab, but other essential facilities, including classrooms, a library, and offices, were excluded from the project.
Currently, Pearson Extension hosts three sessions—secondary, junior, elementary, and early childhood education programs—but the poor condition of the school’s infrastructure is likely to hamper the learning process under the Unity Party-led government, according to staff.
“The inadequate classroom space and lack of an auditorium are among the factors undermining outdoor curriculum activities,” Principal Kpaleh emphasized.
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