Liberia’s Education System Set for $88 Million Shakeup—But Can EXCEL Deliver Real Change?
- Michael T
- Jul 23
- 2 min read
Liberia’s education system is poised for a radical shakeup, but will this $88.7 million windfall from the World Bank and Global Partnership for Education finally break the cycle of failing schools—or just patch over old problems with new money?
Announced in Washington on June 10, 2025, and officially signed today in Monrovia, the Excellence in Learning in Liberia (EXCEL) Project pledges to reinvent foundational learning for some 362,000 students and educators across all 15 counties, with over 2,300 primary schools set to benefit. The ambition is bold: overhaul outdated classrooms, fix the chronic shortage of trained teachers, empower school committees, and—critically—target girls who’ve too often been left behind12.
However, skepticism lingers in a country where international aid projects have too frequently stumbled. The plan leans on a structured new approach to teaching reading and math, promising to flood schools with fresh materials and training for 12,000 teachers. It also aims to modernize data oversight and throw a spotlight on school-related gender-based violence.
All this feeds directly into President Boakai’s ARREST Agenda’s promise of true inclusion, making this project a flagship for the government’s new development era. The Ministry of Education, currently under growing pressure to produce tangible results before the 2026 midterm elections, has named EXCEL a “national priority,” emphasizing its potential to reduce the learning poverty rate—which still lingers above 90% for 10-year-olds unable to read a basic sentence.
But the real test comes in the day-to-day—the gritty realities of rural classrooms and overstretched staff, where ambitious reforms from Monrovia often face their toughest battles. With Liberia’s rainy season disrupting school access in many counties and teacher absenteeism still rampant, education stakeholders are urging swift deployment of school kits, incentives for rural teachers, and local monitoring committees before the next academic year begins in September 2025.
As $88 million flows in under the World Bank’s 2025–2030 strategy, only diligent oversight, community buy-in, and tough accountability will determine whether EXCEL delivers more than just another grand plan on paper—and actually empowers the educational transformation Liberia desperately needs12.
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