The Director of Press at the House of Representatives Robert Haynes has underscored the power and Importance of girls education to the society.
Serving as a guest speaker at a graduation program, Mr. Haynes said the ceremony for the young women represents more than academic achievement but also symbolizes possibility, power, and progress.
He stated that why Girls’ Education Matters
Globally, it is widely acknowledged that when you educate a girl, you educate a nation.
According to him, An educated girl is more likely to marry later, earn a higher income, raise healthier children, and contribute meaningfully to her family and community.
Speaking further to the gathering, he pointed out that a society where girls are educated, poverty declines, innovation grows, and the fabric of democracy strengthens.
“Yet in many parts of the world—including in Liberia—we’ve had to fight hard to secure this basic right for girls and though the challenges remain, our nation has shown that the seeds of girls’ education, once planted, can produce towering leaders and transformative agents of change”, he noted.
Reflecting on the Country’s Civil wars, he indicated that economic instability, and entrenched gender inequality have historically placed girls at a disadvantage.
Many girls, he explained were pulled from school, forced into early marriage, or made to believe their future belonged only in the kitchen or the market building.
However, he stressed that the ties shifted when the people insisted on education—when girls began to claim the classroom as their right, not a favor.
“Today, we stand proud as a country that produced Africa’s first elected female President, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf—a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, a woman of strength and conviction who reminded the world that Liberian women, when educated and empowered, can lead nations”, he noted.
She once said, “The future belongs to those who dare to believe in the beauty of their dreams.” That future belongs to you, our daughters, our sisters, our students—if you believe, and if you persist in learning.
He said that before Madam Sirleaf, there was Angie Brooks-Randolph—a pioneer, a diplomat, a trailblazer who in
1969, made history as the first African woman and the second woman in the world to preside over the United Nations General Assembly.
“She was not only a daughter of Liberia—she was a voice for Africa, for justice, for peace and her presence at the highest diplomatic table in the world was not by luck, but by learning”, he re-emphasized.
Providing additional information to the graduates, Robert said Madam Brooks earned her law degree, rose through the ranks, and used her education as a tool to negotiate peace, promote women’s rights, and represent Liberia with excellence.
She once said, “A woman must rise not by demanding to be placed on a pedestal, but by standing on the foundation of her merit.” That merit, graduates, comes through education.
Liberian girls , he asserted walk through school gates, they walk in the footsteps of giants—of Angie Brooks-Randolph, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Justice Sie-A-Nyene Yuoh, and many more.
He said these women proved that when girls are educated, they become forces that move history forward.
We’ve seen Justice Sie-A-Nyene G. Yuoh, former Chief Justice of Liberia, rising to one of the highest legal offices in our country (The Supreme Court). Her wisdom and command of the law are testaments to what education can do when nurtured from girlhood.
Mr. Roberts also disclosed to the graduates that there are hundreds more—educators, engineers, entrepreneurs, ministers, and activists—whose paths were paved by the power of education.
“These are not women of magic; they are women of merit and that merit was sharpened and shaped in classrooms like this one”, he reminded the gathering.
However, the House’s Director of Press was quick to mention that in the wake of these positive signs and achievements, there still remain bundles of challenges for school going girls both in rural and urban communities across the country.
Highlighting some of the challenges, Mr. Haynes said in rural Liberia young girls still walk long distances, vulnerable in the bushes just to acquire education for a better tomorrow.
Many families, he disclosed still prioritize boys’ education over girls’ while teenage pregnancy, poverty, and cultural norms remain significant barriers.
“But these obstacles are not destiny. We can overcome them by investing more in school infrastructure, providing scholarships for girls, promoting mentorship, and ensuring policies that protect girls’ right to learn in safe environments”, he added.
Speaking directly to the graduates he told them that the gown they wear today is more than cloth; it is a declaration of their potential.
” Let no one tell you that your dreams are too big, Let no one convince you that leadership belongs to men alone and Let no one limit what God has empowered you to become and also to the young men—be champions of change, An empowered woman does not threaten your future; she strengthens it, Walk alongside your sisters, not ahead of them”, he encouraged them.
