The World Bank has described the signing of the Excellence in Learning in Liberia (EXCEL) project as a transformative and urgent milestone in the country’s quest to tackle its education crisis. Speaking at the official signing ceremony held on July 23, 2025, the World Bank Country Manager reaffirmed the institution’s strong commitment to supporting Liberia’s education reform agenda under President Joseph Boakai’s leadership.
The EXCEL Project—a $88.7 million initiative co-financed by the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE)—is set to impact over 362,000 people, including students, teachers, and education personnel across all 15 counties of Liberia. The project will be implemented over a five-year period and focuses on addressing foundational learning challenges in Liberia’s public primary schools.
“This has been a promising week for education in Liberia,” said the Country Manager, referencing the commissioning of two model senior secondary schools in Gbarnga and Ganta earlier in the week. “Today’s signing marks a historic step forward in efforts to reduce learning poverty in Liberia and unlock opportunities for the country’s youth.”
The EXCEL Project is aligned with the government’s ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development (AAID) and Liberia’s Vision 2030. It aims to tackle the core issues affecting the country’s basic education system by improving access, strengthening instructional quality, and introducing system-wide reforms to improve outcomes.
The World Bank official identified three key reasons why the EXCEL Project represents a historic undertaking:
1. Unprecedented Scale:
EXCEL is the largest investment the World Bank has ever made in Liberia’s education sector. IDA has committed $60 million in concessional financing, while GPE has contributed an additional $28.7 million—bringing total funding to $88.7 million. This scale of investment, the Country Manager noted, reflects a strong international vote of confidence in Liberia’s education sector reform agenda.
Systemic Ambition:
The project will target the root causes of poor learning outcomes in Liberia, with a multi-pronged strategy that includes the development of high-quality teaching and learning materials, evidence-based instruction in foundational literacy and numeracy, equitable access to education, school grants, school-based violence prevention programs, improved student assessments, and enhanced data systems for evidence-based decision-making. Urgency for Transformation.
With only five years left to achieve the goals outlined in Liberia’s Vision 2030, the Country Manager emphasized the urgency of delivering results. Liberia currently ranks 171st out of 174 countries in human capital development, with some of the lowest learning-adjusted years of schooling in the world. “These numbers represent the hopes and dreams of young Liberians,” she said. “EXCEL is a downpayment on the transformation that Liberia urgently needs.”
The Country Manager also highlighted that the EXCEL Project will serve as a flagship initiative under the World Bank’s upcoming Country Partnership Framework (CPF), which will focus on building the foundations for more and better jobs. The CPF is set to be launched later this year.
She praised the leadership of Minister of Education Dr. Jarso Maley Jallah for her vision and coordination and expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Education’s team—past and present—for their collaboration and dedication. She also acknowledged the commitment of the World Bank’s internal team and Liberia’s broader development partners.
As Liberia sets out on this ambitious reform journey, the World Bank called on civil society, education stakeholders, and government partners to work in unison to ensure that EXCEL delivers tangible and measurable outcomes for Liberia’s children.
