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By: Staff Writer
A 12th-grade student of the Monrovia Consolidated School System has taken a swipe at Deputy Information Minister Daniel O. Sando for claiming teachers are inciting students to protest, insisting students know their rights and are acting on their own frustration.
Amos Swah of the MCSS on Monday said senior students have been sitting for three months without notes, just months to the national exams. “We are not small children, we know our right. I will be sitting for national exam April or May, yet I haven’t taken any note. How do you expect me to write that exam?” Swah said.
Swah’s outburst comes as the MCSS Students’ Union, under its President Sekou V. Siryon, has escalated the crisis, issuing a 24-hour ultimatum to the Government of Liberia to address the ongoing teachers’ go-slow and administrative challenges.
The ultimatum, announced Monday at William V. S. Tubman High School in Sinkor, runs from 11:00 a.m. Monday, October 19 to 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, October 20, 2026, demanding fulfillment of the March 27, 2026 Memorandum of Understanding, dismissal of Assistant Superintendent Emmanuel Kyne Robertson, and increased budgetary support for MCSS.
According to the Union, the go-slow by the MCSS Teachers Association over unpaid salaries, placement of volunteer teachers on payroll and poor working conditions has deprived thousands of students of classroom instruction across Monrovia.
”Students cannot continue to sit at home or attend school without receiving the education they deserve while time keeps running out,” Siryon declared in the Union’s press statement.
The Union also accused Assistant Superintendent Robertson of contributing to instability, alleging he incited students, disrupted classes, threatened students and sent individuals to attack its president, allegations the Union presented as grounds for his dismissal.
Beyond the strike, Siryon warned administrators against dragging students into internal disputes, stressing that students need qualified teachers, functional classrooms and a peaceful learning environment.
The Union, while acknowledging ongoing renovations at Boatswain, G.W. Gibson and Matilda Newport High Schools, said many schools still lack adequate facilities and require urgent attention, hence the call for increased budgetary allocation.
The current standoff follows a mass student protest last Thursday, October 15, after which Deputy Minister Sando dismissed claims that the action was about volunteer teachers, saying government had enrolled all 400 volunteers on payroll and accused professional teachers of using students as a shield to demand salary increment.
Sando’s comment drew sharp rebuttal from MCSS Teachers Association President Augustine N. Nyormui last Friday, who said no teacher has incited any student. “The students have their union. They are even associated with LINSU. MCSS Teachers Association is a professional organization. We don’t do politics here. Our concerns are strictly issue-driven,” Nyormui said.
As the deadline ticks, the Student Union says it remains committed to peace and dialogue but warned its patience should not be mistaken for weakness, noting it will consult the broader student body to determine the next course of action if government fails to act.
