Liberia

Distance education in Liberia has been somewhat impeded by the lack of economic means of most Liberians, the relative lack of computers and Internet service in the country, and the general absence of necessary physical infrastructure, such as electrical supply. Additionally, state censorship of the media acts as a brake on the free transmission of ideas in the country, public discussions, and on teaching methods emphasizing the development of creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills in students. This said, there were about 70,000 televisions and 790,000 radios in Liberia in 1997, all of them potentially useful for distance education. In 1999 Liberia had six FM radio stations and four short-wave radio stations, while the number of television broadcast stations in the country in the year 2000 was two. In the year 2000 UNESCO was involved in collaborating with UNICEF and UNDP to develop a "Distance Learning" program for Liberian teachers that would include sponsorship of an academic chair in the University of Liberia's Tubman Teachers College.

Many self-help-oriented programs exist in Liberia that are funded by international donors and run by nongovernmental organizations. Through such programs Liberian youth have developed their knowledge and abilities not only in specialized marketable skills, such as carpentry or tailoring, but also in starting, running, and managing their own businesses so they can better ensure their gainful employment after graduation. Fewer wage paying jobs existed after the war, and students generally have been encouraged to develop self-help skills, business skills, and entrepreneurial strategies to provide themselves with the means to generate their own employment, even—and perhaps especially—when they have been trained in vocational or technical skills. Micro-enterprise training and support programs run by nongovernmental organizations (local, national, and international) often include seed money and tool kits for trainees upon their graduation so that new skills can be put to immediate use to the financial benefit of the graduates, since regular bank loans generally are not available to those of low financial means and only some banks have resumed their normal operations after the war.