Liberia: Finance Minister Urges Accountability in Education Spending

MONROVIA — Finance and Development Planning Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan has called for stronger accountability in Liberia's education sector, warning that public resources should benefit those directly involved in educating the country's children. Speaking Tuesday during Executive Budget Hearings involving the Ministry of Education, University of Liberia, Tubman University and other public universities, Ngafuan said government must track how resources are being used, particularly at the classroom level. "We need to track what's happening in the classrooms because if we pay those who aren't in the classrooms, they are taking away money from those in the classrooms," Ngafuan said. He said the issue is not simply how much government allocates to education, but whether available resources are being effectively used to improve outcomes. Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines According to Ngafuan, the ongoing budget hearings are intended to assess how ministries and agencies have used current appropriations and identify their most important priorities for the next fiscal year. He acknowledged that government resources remain limited despite improvements in domestic revenue collection, making prioritization and accountability critical. "It's not a matter of how much, it's a matter of how well," Ngafuan said, noting that institutions receiving similar levels of funding can produce different results depending on how resources are managed and programs implemented. He urged education authorities and institutions to identify priority areas where limited public resources can have the greatest impact. Ngafuan compared the challenge to a parent with five children but enough resources to send only three to school, telling education officials: "You know those children better than we do." The education-sector hearing forms part of a series of Executive Budget Hearings being conducted by the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning ahead of the October 31 deadline for submission of the national budget. Ngafuan stressed that education spending should ultimately produce measurable results where learning takes place, in Liberia's classrooms. Read the original article on New Dawn . AllAfrica publishes around 600 reports a day from more than 90 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals , representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica . To address comments or complaints, please Contact us . AllAfrica is a voice of, by and about Africa - aggregating, producing and distributing 600 news and information items daily from over 90 African news organizations and our own reporters to an African and global public. We operate from Cape Town, Dakar, Abuja, Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington DC. Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy . We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.