In Bong County, Liberia, deaf and visually impaired children face significant educational neglect due to a lack of inclusive public schools. Despite over 30 public schools in the area, none accommodate students with hearing impairments, highlighting systemic discrimination.
The only institution for deaf children, Gbarnga Central School of the Deaf, operates out of Ninga Colley’s home with limited resources and capacity.
Visually impaired children also suffer from a lack of specialized education. These issues violate Liberia’s constitutional promise of equal education and the 2018 Inclusive Education Policy, prompting calls for urgent national and international action to address these failures.
Deaf and visually impaired people in Bong County, Liberia, face significant challenges due to widespread poverty, cultural stigma, lack of infrastructure, and inadequate government support. Research conducted in Bong County has documented these barriers, which also reflect the broader issues affecting people with disabilities across Liberia.
Educational barriers
- No inclusive schools: Bong County lacks schools specifically equipped to educate blind and deaf children. Mainstream public schools are not designed to be inclusive and often lack trained teachers and appropriate materials.
- Untrained teachers: Teachers in regular schools often lack the training to work with students who have visual or hearing impairments, leading to the abandonment of these children by the education system.
- Inaccessibility: Research has highlighted the physical inaccessibility of many school buildings and the absence of essential resources like Braille materials.
- Exclusion: Because of these shortcomings, thousands of disabled children in Bong County and across Liberia are excluded from receiving the education they deserve.
Social and economic challenges
- Negative cultural attitudes: Many Liberians view disability negatively, sometimes associating it with witchcraft or as punishment. This contributes to discrimination and marginalization.
- High poverty rate: The lingering effects of the civil war have left 48% of Liberians in poverty, with the disabled community being disproportionately affected. Many visually impaired people resort to begging to survive.
- Limited job opportunities: Research in Bong County found that people with disabilities face a severe lack of employment opportunities, even when they have skills. They are often perceived as unreliable for bank loans to start their own businesses.
- Inadequate infrastructure: Visually impaired Liberians often face danger navigating the country’s roads due to inadequate infrastructure. Even those with experience using canes struggle with mobility.
Insufficient support systems
- Funding shortages: The National Commission on Disability (NCD) has faced a limited budget and has not been able to significantly fulfill its mandate of providing support to people with disabilities.
- Corruption: Recent reports indicate that corruption has devastated programs intended to be lifelines for people with disabilities, leading to the closure of shelters and training centers.
- Fragmented efforts: While non-governmental organizations (NGOs) run most disability programs, efforts are often fragmented with little collaboration or knowledge-sharing between them.
- Lack of assistive devices: A 2022 summary report revealed that most people with physical disabilities in Bong County lack essential assistive devices like wheelchairs or crutches. Visually impaired people, such as those with albinism, often cannot access special eyeglasses.
Hope and ongoing efforts
Despite these systemic problems, some progress and support are being made through partnerships and grassroots initiatives:
- Disability awareness training: Organizations like AIFO, in collaboration with the National Commission on Disability and others, have initiated awareness and empowerment campaigns in Bong County. This has improved the understanding and commitment of healthcare workers to provide inclusive care.
- Back-to-school projects: In September 2025, the National Lottery Authority (NLA) launched an initiative to donate school supplies to blind and deaf students in Bong County and other regions to promote inclusive access to education.
- Grassroots advocacy: The Christian Association of the Blind (CAB) and other disabled people’s organizations (DPOs) continue to advocate for the rights and needs of their communities
