The Chairman of the Economic Department, William V.S. Tubman High School, Johnny D. Hopkins, has questioned the ethical grounds for which the newly appointed Superintendent of the Monrovia Consolidated School System (MCSS), Isaac Zarwolo, continues to make unsubstantiated and unprofessional statements ranging from the cancellation of the afternoon sessions of MCSS schools to the compulsory working hours of teachers, which has the potential of derailing the professional credibility of the system.
According to Hopkins, it is highly unfortunate that the newly appointed superintendent of MCSS, Isaac Zarwolo, has made a number of utterances as head of such a professional body which clearly violates the act that established the MCSS, especially teachers working beyond the 21 credit hours maximum time allotment in keeping with the MCSS act.
Hopkins has however said if these statements made by the MCSS boss, such as the cancellation of the afternoon session of the MCSS schools, should ever take effect, it would mean that hundreds of students will be out of school, and they along with their parents will wallow in the pit of ignorance worse than what is being experienced today in Liberia (with its high illiteracy rate and backwardness), with no regard for the merit system and ethical standard.
The new MCSS superintendent, upon disembarking at the Roberts International Airport (RIA) intimated that as of academic 2022 no MCSS teacher will be allowed to teach in two schools, and that every assigned MCSS teacher will have to carry a thirty-credit-hour workload, but contrary to this assertion Hopkins said the pronouncement by the MCSS boss grossly contravenes the MCSS act, which requires teachers to carry twenty-one credit hours, maximum, work load.
“As an educationalist and head of an educational institution, Zarwolo must realize that education is a fundamental human right and, as such, any attempt to deny the students who are the future of the country the means of acquiring education will be a serious human right violation, which seems to be the operational agenda of the new MCSS boss by the many unplanned utterances being made by him since his arrival at the job,” Hopkins stated.
Furthermore, Hopkins wondered whether these measures and restrictions being contemplated and put forward by Superintendent Zarwolo have any realistic moral dividend, and also whether he is willing and ready to give the additional incentives and compensations that will motivate and keep teachers in schools beyond the 21 credit hours, maximum.
Hopkins said the string of measures being uttered by the MCSS boss are not only unethical but also has the proclivity of taking most teachers off balance, especially in these times of economic difficulty when civil servants, including teachers, are barely making it with the merger resources they are getting as professionals.
The economic instructor said the Zarwolo American experience of an educational system cannot be imported into Liberia without properly studying the financial and economic ramifications attached, and that the government really finds it appropriate and is willing to invest in the educational sector, which has less than 25% budgetary support.
Hopkins has therefore admonished the newly appointed MCSS boss to be aware and take cognizance that the superintendent position is purely administrative and not political, and therefore should not be used to gain favor with the status quo. “Besides, it is not one that should be run in the media,” he underscored.
The economic instructor has further cautioned Superintendent Zarwolo to carefully observe the prevailing circumstances, consult other educational stakeholders in order to plan well to institute the right kind of policy for the improvement of the system, because work performance should be based on professionalism and not show unrealistic utterances as well as too much talking and unrealistic planning.
Isaac Zarwolo took over the position of superintendent of MCSS in November 2021 from A. Benjamin Jacobs, and he is to serve a four-year tenure at the will and pleasure of the President of Liberia, who could retain him or not based on his professional competence and performance consistent with ethics and moral standards.
However, Hopkins has expressed serious doubt whether Zarwolo will again win the confidence and trust of the President for re-nomination to the position of Superintendent of MCSS, because he has demonstrated a high level of unprofessionalism, not required of the head of any professional body or institution like the MCSS.