Liberia has secured a record $88.7 million deal with the World Bank to overhaul its failing public primary education system aimed at lifting over 350,000 students out of poverty through the new EXCEL Project.
The Excellence in Learning in Liberia (EXCEL) Project is the largest education investment incountry’s history. The agreement includes a $60 million credit from the International Development Association (IDA) and a $28.7 million grant from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). It marks the first major initiative under the World Bank’s 2025-2030 Country Partnership Framework for Liberia.
President Joseph Boakai described the deal as a transformative step toward rescuing the country’s education sector from collapse and aligning with his ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development.
“This project represents a significant investment in our future by focusing on what matters most–educating our children and equipping our educators. We can’t keep seeing disorganized classrooms without facilities and pretend our children can compete globally. We must act now,” President Boakai said
The EXCEL Project is set to deliver widespread reforms: construction of over 100 new primary schools, rehabilitation of many others, specialized training for more than 6,500 teachers, and leadership development for at least 4,500 school administrators. In total, 2,337 public primary schools will benefit from improved teaching materials, infrastructure, and classroom methods.
The initiative also includes evidence-based instruction techniques, violence prevention programs, education data strengthening, and a school grants scheme to empower local leadership.
World Bank Country Manager Georgia Wallen called the agreement a “historic step forward” in reversing Liberia’s learning crisis. “With five years left to meet Vision 2030, time is of the essence,” she said, adding that: “Liberia’s children deserve more and better–and EXCEL is a down-payment on that transformation.”
Stressing the project’s scale, ambition, and urgency, Wallen said: “this is the largest World Bank investment in Liberia’s education sector to date. It directly targets root causes–poor infrastructure, undertrained teachers, and weak student performance–and it covers all 15 counties.”
Liberia currently ranks 171st out of 174 countries in the World Bank’s Human Capital Index. Its children record the world’s lowest level of learning-adjusted years of schooling, making foundational learning reform not just critical but urgent.
About The Author
