The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, has launched an Educational Stipend Cash Transfer Program to support students taking the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) in Liberia during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The program, funded by USAID, will provide a one-time cash stipend of approximately US$50 to all 12th grade students from public and private schools in Liberia’s fifteen counties who are registered to take the Exams. Some forty-two thousand 12th graders are eligible to receive the stipends to help them meet the cost of transportation to school, as well as their daily food and other basic needs as they prepare for the Exams, which are being administered from August 17 to September 2, 2020.
The stipends will be distributed via mobile money. Information about how eligible students can enroll online to receive their stipends can be found on the Facebook page of the Ministry of Education at https://www.facebook.com/LiberiaMOE/ and also at EducationLiberia.org.
USAID Liberia Mission Director, Sara Walter, said the stipend program “reflects the commitment of the Government and People of the United States not only to help Liberia contain the spread of COVID-19 but to also deal with the broader impact of the disease, including the economic uncertainties it has created across Liberia.”
Director Walter emphasized that the stipends will not be offered annually. She said, “They are being offered only this year because of the exceptional circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic, which have led to the closure of schools and adversely affected the livelihoods of Liberians families.”
She added that twelfth grade students “are receiving the stipends because despite these challenges they have returned to special classes to study for their exams so that they can graduate and contribute to Liberia’s future.”
Director Walter then thanked the USAID Liberia Education Office for designing the program. She also noted “the very important role the Ministry of Education is playing to ensure the successful implementation of the program.”
USAID’s COVID-19 educational stipend is one of many United States Government assistance programs provided by the U.S. Mission in Liberia to support education and training of Liberians and promote workforce readiness.
“We have been here, we are still here, we are working together – the United States and Liberia…”
