This is saddening. The effects of war being felt years later, due to a bad schooling system. Between the lines, you can also read some indications of manipulation of the results by the university itself. The university receives payment for taking the exam, and it is already overcrowded: two clear incentives to let people fail the exam.
And just to think, there are many more of these battlegrounds, with "lost generations" waiting to happen. This'll cause all sorts of other problems along the line.
Liberia's education minister says she finds it hard to believe that not a single candidate passed this year's university admission exam.
Nearly 25,000 school-leavers failed the test for admission to the University of Liberia, one of two state-run universities. The students lacked enthusiasm and did not have a basic grasp of English, a university official told the BBC.
Liberia is recovering from a brutal civil war that ended a decade ago. (...) Many schools lack basic education material and teachers are poorly qualified, reports the BBC's Jonathan Paye-Layleh reports from the capital, Monrovia.
(...) Education Minister Etmonia David-Tarpeh told the BBC Focus on Africa programme that she intended to meet university officials to discuss the failure rate.
"I know there are a lot of weaknesses in the schools but for a whole group of people to take exams and every single one of them to fail, I have my doubts about that," Ms David-Tarpeh said. "It's like mass murder."
(...) "The war has ended 10 years ago now. We have to put that behind us and become realistic."
