The Monrovia Vocational Training Center (MVTC), Liberia’s leading public technical and vocational institutions, is grappling with a 50% student retention rate.
The institution currently enrolls about 700 students per cycle, far below its capacity of approximately 3,000.
The newly appointed Youth and Sports Minister Atty. Cornelia Wonkerleh Kruah said that for every 10 students who enroll, five drop out before completing their programs.
According to her, the issue has drawn national attention as the government seeks to expand access to technical and vocational education and training (TVET) to address youth unemployment and skills gaps in the labor market.
Minister Kruah announced that her first official visit in office would be to the MVTC campus, signaling what she described as a renewed focus on strengthening vocational education.
“This morning, my first visit as Minister will be to the MVTC campus. My team and I will be assessing possibilities of reducing the cost of attendance for students and expanding to full capacity, with emphasis on technical and vocational skills that have demand in the job market currently,” she said.
MVTC provides technical and vocational training in 13 trade areas, equipping students with practical skills in fields aligned with national development priorities.
However, affordability and other socio-economic factors have contributed to high dropout rates, according to education stakeholders.
Kruah emphasized that making public vocational institutions more accessible and responsive to market needs would be central to her ministry’s strategy to engage young people, particularly those less inclined to pursue traditional academic pathways.
“In order to encourage youth who may not be inclined to pursue traditional education to choose an alternative in TVET, we must ensure our public institutions are affordable and provide quality training,” she added.
Liberia, like many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, faces significant youth unemployment, with policymakers increasingly viewing technical and vocational training as a critical pathway to economic inclusion and entrepreneurship.
The Boakai-Koung administration has not yet outlined specific policy measures, but the minister’s remarks suggest that reforms could include tuition adjustments, partnerships with industry, curriculum updates, and expanded enrollment initiatives.
Many Liberians, including educational experts say that improving retention rates at MVTC will require not only lowering costs but also addressing student support systems, infrastructure, and alignment between training programs and labor market opportunities.
