Research On The Administrative Management Of Higher Education In Liberia

The Administrative Management of higher education in any country is key to its humanresource development and national agenda. And so too, is the entire education system.TheLiberian education structure is divided into several parts, namely; the kindergartens,elementary, the secondary level and the tertiary or higher education. Since the politicalfoundation of Liberia was laid on December15,1821, the issue of Higher Education andits administration in Liberia has long been emphasized. Most of the founding fathers(freed American slaves and the native chiefs) of Liberia were either illiterate or semi-educated, with little or no functional education, especially Higher Education. Thecountry’s lack of higher Education from its foundation to independence on July26,1847,and up to1862, greatly hampered its effectiveness to comprehensively deal with the manysophisticated challenges face by a new nation, especially in the face of marginalizationand Western Imperialism.However, in1862based on the United States educational system, the country establishedit first Higher Institution of learning, the Liberia College. Nonetheless, its (University ofLiberia) administrative management, long history, infrastructure, and contributions havenot significantly reflected in the past and present state of Liberia’s appaulling and lowhuman resource capacity development. After one hundred fifty-one years (152years),since the higher institution was established in the country and subsequently otherinstitutions of higher learning, the country yet still suffers low human development(United Nations Human Development Index2012) and poor education system(www.emansion.gov.lr). This has and is largely affecting the country’s reconstructiondrive after several years of political and military instabilities.This research will mainly focus on the Administrative Management of higher education inLiberia and its impacts on the growth and development of the country. It will alsohighlight the Ministry of Education (MOE) of Liberia’s and individual higher institutions’roles and responsibilities and the historical and meaningful essence of the NationalCommission on Higher Education in Liberia (NCHE) to this sector. It will also give ahistorical prospective of the educational sector in the country.