{"id":80196,"date":"2025-08-29T17:25:43","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T17:25:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberian-students-in-china-raise-job-and-stipend-issues"},"modified":"2025-08-29T17:52:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T17:52:32","slug":"liberian-students-in-china-raise-job-and-stipend-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberian-students-in-china-raise-job-and-stipend-issues","title":{"rendered":"Liberian Students in China Raise Job and Stipend Issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Liberia. <\/strong><\/span>A growing number of Liberian students studying in China are expressing fear and uncertainty about returning home after graduation, citing the lack of job opportunities and unfair reductions in government stipends as major deterrents.<\/p>\n

Speaking with FrontPage Africa (FPA) in Changsha, Hunan Province recently, Edwina M. Kolleh, Coordinator of the Hunan Union of Liberian Students, made a passionate appeal to the government of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai to take urgent steps in addressing the challenges faced by Liberian students abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are calling on the government to create job opportunities for returning students\u2014not only for those in China but those studying in other countries as well,\u201d said Kolleh, a Ph.D. candidate in Public Health.<\/p>\n

Kolleh lamented that highly qualified Liberians\u2014many with master\u2019s and doctorate degrees\u2014return home only to face unemployment and underutilization.<\/p>\n

\u201cImagine having a doctor go from office to office and being told there is no space. It\u2019s heartbreaking,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople want to return and contribute, but without job prospects, they are discouraged\u2014even afraid\u2014to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stipend Cuts Causing Financial Strain<\/b><\/p>\n

In addition to job concerns, students are also grappling with what they describe as \u201cunfair\u201d reductions in stipends provided by the Liberian government.<\/p>\n

The stipend, which was previously US$350 per month during former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf\u2019s Administration, was slashed to US$75 in 2019 without formal explanation\u2014and students say the payments are often delayed for months.<\/p>\n

\u201cImagine reducing our stipends by almost 80 percent, and then not paying it on time. This is really frustrating,\u201d Kolleh said.<\/p>\n

She noted that some students have gone up to three months without receiving any payment, leaving them financially stranded and reliant on informal support networks just to survive in a foreign country.<\/p>\n

James Prince Tarley, a bilateral scholarship student pursuing a master\u2019s degree in Microbiology, echoed similar frustrations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been here for over a year and have only received six months of stipend. We keep appealing through the embassy and the Ministry of Education, but nothing changes,\u201d Tarley said.<\/p>\n

As Secretary General of the Hunan student union, Tarley added that students often resort to \u201cmaking noise\u201d in chat rooms just to get attention from authorities.<\/p>\n

Praise for Chinese Government<\/b><\/p>\n

Despite the challenges faced due to limited support from their own government, the students commended the Chinese government for its consistency in honoring scholarship obligations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout China\u2019s support, many of us would have dropped out already. Their reliability has helped many of us survive,\u201d Kolleh acknowledged.<\/p>\n

As Liberia seeks to strengthen its human resource base through international scholarship programs, these students are urging the Boakai administration to prioritize support for foreign-based Liberian students\u2014through timely stipend payments and concrete reintegration policies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to go back. We want to serve. But we also want to be treated with dignity and given a chance to contribute meaningfully,\u201d Kolleh concluded.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Liberia<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Liberia. A growing number of Liberian students studying in China are expressing fear and uncertainty about returning home after graduation, citing the lack of job opportunities and unfair reductions in government stipends as major deterrents. Speaking with FrontPage Africa (FPA) in Changsha, Hunan Province recently, Edwina M. Kolleh, Coordinator of the Hunan Union […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":80195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[234],"class_list":["post-80196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-culture-and-art","tag-liberia"],"yoast_head":"\nLiberian Students in China Raise Job and Stipend Issues - Liberia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A growing number of Liberian students studying in China are expressing fear and uncertainty about returning home after g ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberian-students-in-china-raise-job-and-stipend-issues\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Liberian Students in China Raise Job and Stipend Issues\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A growing number of Liberian students studying in China are expressing fear and uncertainty about returning home after g ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberian-students-in-china-raise-job-and-stipend-issues\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Liberia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-29T17:25:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-29T17:52:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2025\/08\/sm_1756477100.024012.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1476\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"664\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberian-students-in-china-raise-job-and-stipend-issues#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberian-students-in-china-raise-job-and-stipend-issues\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Liberian Students in China Raise Job and Stipend Issues\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-29T17:25:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-29T17:52:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberian-students-in-china-raise-job-and-stipend-issues\"},\"wordCount\":498,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberian-students-in-china-raise-job-and-stipend-issues#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2025\/08\/sm_1756477100.024012.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Liberia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"culture and art\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberian-students-in-china-raise-job-and-stipend-issues#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberian-students-in-china-raise-job-and-stipend-issues\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberian-students-in-china-raise-job-and-stipend-issues\",\"name\":\"Liberian Students in China Raise Job and Stipend Issues - 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