When His Excellency Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr., President of the Republic of Liberia, delivered his third State of the Nation Handle to the fifty fifth Legislature on January 26, 2026, he did greater than evaluate progress or define routine priorities. He issued a forward-looking name to motion—one which speaks on to Liberia’s long-term growth trajectory: the revision of the Constitution of the College of Liberia (UL) to allow significant reforms and institutional restructuring.¹
By Al-Hassan Conteh, Ph.D., contributing author
This proposal deserves sturdy nationwide endorsement. Reforming the UL Constitution shouldn’t be a symbolic train; it’s a strategic crucial if Liberia’s premier public college is to meet its historic mission of coaching women and men for private and non-private service in a quickly altering international financial system.²
Why the Present Constitution Limits Transformation
The College of Liberia’s Constitution—rooted in statutes relationship again to the mid-twentieth century and amended incrementally over time—displays an period when universities had been primarily state-controlled establishments with restricted monetary autonomy, slim curricular flexibility, and centralized governance constructions.³ Whereas the Constitution affirms UL’s nationwide significance, it constrains the establishment in a number of crucial methods:
- Restricted monetary autonomy, proscribing the college’s capacity to diversify income sources, appeal to endowments, or interact trade companions at scale.⁴
- Inflexible governance constructions that sluggish decision-making and restrict strategic responsiveness.⁵
- Outdated educational frameworks are insufficiently aligned with labor-market wants, technological change, and interdisciplinary analysis.⁶
President Boakai’s name to revise the Constitution acknowledges that structural reform—not piecemeal adjustment—is required to reposition UL as a contemporary, aggressive, and workforce-oriented establishment.⁷
Studying from African Universities That Reformed Efficiently
Throughout Africa, main public universities have undergone governance and constitution reforms to stay related within the twenty first century:
- College of Cape City leveraged institutional autonomy to strengthen analysis output, international partnerships, and innovation ecosystems.⁸
- College of Ghana reformed its governance and educational constructions to broaden skilled applications, digital studying, and externally funded analysis.⁹
- Makerere College undertook restructuring that enabled curriculum modernization, trade collaboration, and improved monetary sustainability.¹⁰
These reforms exhibit a standard lesson: universities thrive when governance frameworks empower management, shield educational freedom, and hyperlink educating and analysis to nationwide growth priorities.¹¹
Alignment with Liberia’s ARREST Agenda
Revising the UL Constitution aligns squarely with the Human Capital Funding pillar of Liberia’s ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Improvement. Human capital shouldn’t be constructed by aspiration alone; it requires establishments able to delivering related abilities, utilized analysis, and innovation.¹²
A reformed Constitution would allow UL to:
- Introduce labor-market-responsive curricula in science, expertise, well being, agriculture, engineering, local weather research, and public coverage.¹³
- Set up versatile monetary fashions to help scholarships, analysis grants, and infrastructure upgrades.¹⁴
- Strengthen school recruitment, retention, and analysis productiveness, notably in fields crucial to nationwide resilience.¹⁵
These priorities echo long-standing suggestions by the World Financial institution, whose analysis on African increased schooling emphasizes autonomy, accountability, and relevance as drivers of high quality and affect.¹⁶
From Reform to Tangible Outcomes
Constitution reform should in the end ship seen, measurable outcomes for college kids and society. Among the many most compelling outcomes could be:
- Workforce-oriented educational applications that enhance graduate employability and entrepreneurship.¹⁷
- A learner-friendly, revitalized campus that helps digital studying, analysis, and scholar well-being.¹⁸
- Inclusive schooling frameworks, making certain accessibility for individuals with disabilities.¹⁹
- Enhanced school analysis capability, particularly in public well being, agriculture, local weather resilience, and expertise.²⁰
- Stronger institutional capability in infectious and parasitic illness analysis, contributing to epidemic and pandemic prevention—an pressing nationwide and international precedence.²¹
Collectively, these reforms would reposition UL as a catalyst for nationwide transformation quite than a passive recipient of public funding.²²
Wanting Forward to 2050
With decisive legislative motion and sustained political will, a reformed College of Liberia can realistically aspire to rank among the many high twenty universities in Africa by 2050. This isn’t an summary ambition; it’s a growth technique. Nations rise when their universities rise—once they produce expert graduates, knowledgeable residents, and options to real-world issues.²³
President Boakai’s name to revise the UL Constitution is due to this fact well timed, essential, and visionary. The Legislature ought to seize this second, not merely to amend a doc, however to unlock the complete potential of Liberia’s flagship establishment of upper studying—for at the moment’s challenges and tomorrow’s alternatives.²⁴
Footnotes
- Authorities of Liberia, Annual Message of the President to the fifty fifth Legislature, Monrovia, January 26, 2026.
- College of Liberia, Constitution of the College of Liberia, as amended, Monrovia.
- Ibid.
- World Financial institution, Increased Training for Improvement: An Analysis of the World Financial institution Group’s Assist, Washington, DC, 2017.
- World Financial institution, The Street to Educational Excellence: The Making of World-Class Analysis Universities, Washington, DC, 2011.
- African Improvement Financial institution, Expertise, Human Capital and Innovation in Africa, Abidjan, 2020.
- Authorities of Liberia, Annual Message, 2026.
- Cloete, N., et al., Universities and Financial Improvement in Africa, African Minds, 2011.
- College of Ghana, Strategic Plan 2014–2024, Accra.
- Makerere College, Institutional Transformation and Strategic Plan, Kampala.
- Altbach, P., Salmi, J., The Street to Educational Excellence, World Financial institution, 2011.
- Authorities of Liberia, ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Improvement, Monrovia.
- World Financial institution, Training and Expertise for Inclusive Development in Africa, Washington, DC.
- Ibid.
- UNESCO, Reimagining Increased Training in Africa, Paris.
- World Financial institution, Accelerating Catch-Up: Tertiary Training for Development in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2009.
- African Union, Continental Training Technique for Africa (CESA 16-25).
- World Financial institution, Digital Transformation of Training in Africa, 2020.
- UNESCO, Inclusive Increased Training Insurance policies, Paris.
- World Well being Group, Strengthening Analysis Capability in Growing International locations.
- World Financial institution, Pandemic Preparedness and Increased Training, Washington, DC.
- Cloete et al., Universities and Financial Improvement in Africa.
- Salmi, J., The Problem of Establishing World-Class Universities, World Financial institution.
- Authorities of Liberia, Annual Message, 2026.
Dr. Al-Hassan Conteh, PhD, is the twelfth President of the College of Liberia and at the moment serves as Liberia’s Ambassador to america.
