Liberia

At the secondary level of education, gross enrollment ratios were reported by UNICEF in 2000 to be 31 percent for boys and a very low 12 percent for girls. This nonetheless marked an improvement over the reported rate 5 years earlier, when the overall secondary education gross enrollment ratio was supposedly only 15 percent. Secondary schools in Liberia are designed to provide education for children and youth between the ages of 12 and 18: 3 years of junior high school for students ages 12 through 15, leading to the Junior High School Certificate upon graduation, and 3 years at the senior secondary level, with programs for students ages 15 through 18, culminating in the Senior High School Certificate. Following the three junior high years, viewed as a guidance cycle where general instruction is provided, Liberian students take their senior high school instruction in either a technical secondary school or a classical secondary school. At the end of grade 9 and again when they complete grade 12 (i.e., at the close of the 3 junior and the 3 senior high years), students take an examination covering mathematics, science, social studies, and language.

The demand for vocational and technical education carefully matched to labor market needs increased appreciably in Liberia during the 1990s, particularly with the collapse of the economy and the destruction of the social and physical infrastructures. UNESCO in 2000 consequently sponsored a consultant in technical/vocational and science education who was to develop strategies for the implementation of an accelerated technical and vocational training program for Liberia in the post-war years.