Klay, Bomi County – President Joseph Nyuma Boakai Sr. has warned that neglecting education could undermine Liberia’s future, as he and First Lady Kartumu Y. Boakai dedicated the newly renovated Gertrude Yancy Public School in Clay, Bomi County.
Speaking at the dedication ceremony, President Boakai challenged the school administration, teachers, students and parents to ensure that the renovated facilities result in improved learning, discipline, character development and responsible leadership.
The rehabilitation has transformed the institution with a modern computer laboratory, improved learning facilities, a mini clinic to address students’ emergency medical needs and a resource center intended to support learning and knowledge development.
President Boakai commended the First Lady for spearheading the initiative, describing the project as a demonstration of her commitment to education and her desire to give back to the community.
He used the occasion to stress the importance of education to Liberia’s survival and development, warning that a country can be weakened when its people are denied access to quality education.
“If you want to destroy a country, you don’t need missiles, you don’t need bombs. Just get the people uneducated and that will do it for you,” President Boakai said.
The Liberian leader emphasized that Liberia must produce competent professionals and responsible citizens capable of contributing to national development.
“Each and every one of the children that come here represent the best of Liberia,” he said.
President Boakai also urged the community to protect the renovated school and prevent the facility from returning to its previous condition.
“This is not just renovation and sitting down again to come back to the way it was. We’re moving forward,” he said, emphasizing that “Liberia now is on a forward march.”
He said his administration remains committed to developing young Liberians through education, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), agriculture and other skills-development initiatives designed to prepare young people for productive lives and future leadership.
For First Lady Kartumu Y. Boakai, the renovation of Gertrude Yancy Public School is about more than improved buildings and facilities. A former student of the institution, she said the project will only have lasting value if it produces educated, disciplined and responsible Liberians.
“These new walls mean nothing if the children are not learning inside them. These desks mean nothing if dreams are not being formed upon them,” she said.
The First Lady challenged teachers to recognize the potential in every student and to treat their responsibility as an investment in Liberia’s future.
“Teach these children as though one of them will one day lead Liberia. Because one of them just may be the next leader of Liberia,” she urged.
She encouraged the students to read, study and dream beyond their present circumstances, citing her own journey as an example of how education can transform lives.
“I was once a student sitting in this school. Today, by the grace of God, I return as First Lady of the Republic of Liberia. That is what education can do,” she said.
Established in the early 1960s, Gertrude Yancy Public School in Clay, Bomi County, was named after the wife of former Liberian Vice President Allen Yancy.
For First Lady Boakai, the renovation represents both a personal homecoming and an investment in generations of Liberian children who will pass through the school.
“Gertrude Yancy taught me how to read and write,” she recalled.
“Today, I pray that this renewed Gertrude Yancy School will teach generations of Liberian children how to dream, how to lead, and how to serve,” she added.
