Click to expand Image
Classroom at the Buchanan Elementary Demonstration School, Buchanan City, Grand Bassa County, Liberia, January 6, 2026.
© 2026 Human Rights Watch
Liberia’s government announced on August 5 the elimination of all school registration fees from kindergarten through grade 6, beginning with the new school year on September 7. The decision removes one of the biggest barriers to schooling for hundreds of thousands of children.
A recent Human Rights Watch report, “Without Education, There Will Be Nothing,” documents that school registration fees have often placed schooling out of reach or imposed severe hardship, particularly for low-income and rural families. Human Rights Watch found that fees forced many children out of school altogether. Others started years late, attended irregularly, or engaged in child labor to help pay their fees. One-third of Liberian children have never attended school, and only 17 percent completed grade 9.
Parents told Human Rights Watch that they went into debt, skipped meals, and made extraordinary sacrifices to pay fees at public schools. Beatrice, a 17-year-old from Nimba County, said she was forced to leave school when her parents could not afford her registration fees. “I felt bad,” she said. “I stayed home and cried when I saw my friends going to school.”
Fanell Decontee Dewee, a Liberian youth advocate who conducted peer-to-peer interviews with children for the report, said, “For Liberian children, removing this key financial barrier is a meaningful step toward making primary education more accessible and equitable for all.”
If fully implemented, the new policy will help ensure that children can enroll in and remain in school regardless of their families’ financial circumstances. Roberto Cooper Jr., a Liberian child advocate who assisted Human Rights Watch’s research, said, “This is a win for Liberia and an investment in our future. Every child deserves the opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed.”