My most important teacher is an outlier in the traditional academic sense: my illiterate mother. She might be “poor” and “uneducated” to everyone else, but to me, she represents a treasure-trove of wisdom. “No condition is permanent. You must keep focused and get a good education,” she usually says to me. I listen.

I apply my mother advice not only in my own life; I also use it as a force to positively impact my country’s educational system.

My mother knows quite a bit about reversals of fortune and the importance of education. I grew up in a very large family. My father married seven wives, with my mother being the last wife. I have 23 siblings – not counting the ones who passed away. During his heyday, my father managed contractors at the Firestone Rubber Company in Liberia. While I had not been born at the time, I am told that my father was relatively well off, which explains his ability to take on so many wives when polygamy was in vogue in Liberia. However, my father did not use formal banks to save; he used his mattress. He lost everything during the Liberian civil war.

My mother believes that had my father received a decent education, not only would he have chosen a more formal savings vehicle, he would have managed his money better. She has thus dedicated her life to ensuring that my siblings and I achieve higher education. But even without her prompting, I know that education is the surest way out of poverty. I have chosen to pursue academic excellence to the fullest, because I know that education transforms not only individuals, but also nations.

Academic malpractices – sex for grades, bribes, etc. – pervade Liberian schools, and have the potential to stifle long-term development in my country.  

Teachers collect tens of thousands of dollars from students in exchange for grades. Some teachers even go as far as demanding sex from students in exchange for good grades. This appalling phenomenon is so entrenched in Liberian schools that it is now accepted as a way of life. Liberia suffered massive brain drain during the civil war, when hundreds of thousands of Liberians – including teachers and school administrators fled the country for safety. Today, most of the teachers are people who cannot get jobs in other sectors so they find the teaching profession as an alternative. As a result of these malpractices, the education sector produces graduates who lack the capacity to positively contribute to society. This, in turn, creates a vicious cycle of corruption, bad governance, and lawlessness at the national scale.

I am determined to eliminate academic malpractices from Liberian schools.  

In March of 2008, I founded a student organization called Students Against Destructive Actions and Decisions (SADAD), which aims to eliminate academic malpractices and violence in Liberian schools. Prior to my graduation, I used my personal resources to run the organization, including mobilizing volunteers, and conducting community and media outreach. Upon my graduation in 2010, SADAD became a registered NGO with networking structures in ten schools in Montserrado County.  During the May 2012 national exams, SADAD assigned 73 monitoring agents at various testing centers to supervise the exams. Due to our intervention and the Exam Council’s efforts, we saw an unprecedented drop in fraud cases – below 1985 levels. It was a huge victory for us.

When I reflect on my personal trajectory and the factors that have nudged me along, my mother has been the single most influential figure in my life. She did not have the opportunity to get a formal education; but then thought me all it takes for me to look into the future. You can also look into the future. Go to a quiet place. Take a deep breath, close your eyes without distraction and reflect on a situation or issue that is negatively affecting your community. Open your eyes. Now say to yourself. “I must take the lead in solving this menace.

My most important teacher is an outlier in the traditional academic sense: my illiterate mother. She might be “poor” and “uneducated” to everyone else, but to me, she represents a treasure-trove of wisdom. “No condition is permanent. You must keep focused and get a good education,” she usually says to me. I listen.

I apply my mother advice not only in my own life; I also use it as a force to positively impact my country’s educational system.

My mother knows quite a bit about reversals of fortune and the importance of education. I grew up in a very large family. My father married seven wives, with my mother being the last wife. I have 23 siblings – not counting the ones who passed away. During his heyday, my father managed contractors at the Firestone Rubber Company in Liberia. While I had not been born at the time, I am told that my father was relatively well off, which explains his ability to take on so many wives when polygamy was in vogue in Liberia. However, my father did not use formal banks to save; he used his mattress. He lost everything during the Liberian civil war.

My mother believes that had my father received a decent education, not only would he have chosen a more formal savings vehicle, he would have managed his money better. She has thus dedicated her life to ensuring that my siblings and I achieve higher education. But even without her prompting, I know that education is the surest way out of poverty. I have chosen to pursue academic excellence to the fullest, because I know that education transforms not only individuals, but also nations.

Academic malpractices – sex for grades, bribes, etc. – pervade Liberian schools, and have the potential to stifle long-term development in my country.  

Teachers collect tens of thousands of dollars from students in exchange for grades. Some teachers even go as far as demanding sex from students in exchange for good grades. This appalling phenomenon is so entrenched in Liberian schools that it is now accepted as a way of life. Liberia suffered massive brain drain during the civil war, when hundreds of thousands of Liberians – including teachers and school administrators fled the country for safety. Today, most of the teachers are people who cannot get jobs in other sectors so they find the teaching profession as an alternative. As a result of these malpractices, the education sector produces graduates who lack the capacity to positively contribute to society. This, in turn, creates a vicious cycle of corruption, bad governance, and lawlessness at the national scale.

I am determined to eliminate academic malpractices from Liberian schools.  

In March of 2008, I founded a student organization called Students Against Destructive Actions and Decisions (SADAD), which aims to eliminate academic malpractices and violence in Liberian schools. Prior to my graduation, I used my personal resources to run the organization, including mobilizing volunteers, and conducting community and media outreach. Upon my graduation in 2010, SADAD became a registered NGO with networking structures in ten schools in Montserrado County.  During the May 2012 national exams, SADAD assigned 73 monitoring agents at various testing centers to supervise the exams. Due to our intervention and the Exam Council’s efforts, we saw an unprecedented drop in fraud cases – below 1985 levels. It was a huge victory for us.

When I reflect on my personal trajectory and the factors that have nudged me along, my mother has been the single most influential figure in my life. She did not have the opportunity to get a formal education; but then thought me all it takes for me to look into the future. You can also look into the future. Go to a quiet place. Take a deep breath, close your eyes without distraction and reflect on a situation or issue that is negatively affecting your community. Open your eyes. Now say to yourself. “I must take the lead in solving this menace.