India – Nineteen Liberian students enrolled in the Monrovia Consolidated School System (MCSS) scholarship program in India are voicing concerns about what they perceive to be the current government’s disregard and abandonment. Despite repeated pleas to the Liberian Senate, the Ministry of Education, and the MCSS, the students who include numerous undergraduates, a PhD candidate, and teachers pursuing master’s degrees complained that they have been without basic financial support, stipends, or medical insurance for more than a year.
Under the leadership of former MCSS Superintendent James Momoh, students reportedly left Liberia on September 30, 2024, to study undergraduate and graduate studies at Apeejay Stya University and Graphic Era University in India, according to a record from the students. The students claim the new leadership has disregarded their requests for help since Momoh was suspended and Dr. Augurine Stevens was named Acting Superintendent.
The group’s representative, Sam S. Siryon, stated that “since our arrival, we have not been given a single dollar for financial or medical assistance. We have written to the Senate, the Ministry of Education, and the MCSS on multiple occasions, but the current administration has refused to listen to our pleas. Life is really difficult here, and many of us are barely making it.”
Dr. Stevens was called to appear before the Liberian Senate’s Committee on Education and Public Administration on September 2, 2025 after the issue caught their attention. Sen. Nathaniel Gill, the chairman of the committee, signed the official letter, which stated that the Senate had serious concerns about the lack of medical benefits, the delay in tuition payments, and the possibility of being expelled from the universities for nonpayment.
The Senate letter said that the Committee requests your full cooperation because of the seriousness of this issue, which affects the Republic’s reputation and the future of young Liberians. However, the students rejected the claim that Dr. Stevens told senators during the appearance before the Committee that all unpaid debts had been paid and that students’ health insurance was covered.
In a subsequent letter to the Senate, the students claimed that the assertion was untrue. “We are yet to receive any assistance for living expenses or health insurance, and we still owe monies.”
According to a FrontPage Africa report, on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, Emmanuel Kyne Robertson, Assistant Superintendent for Instructions at MCSS, responded to the accusations by over a cell phone that 90 percent of the students’ tuition has already been paid by the current administration.
According to Robertson, politics cannot be included into scholarly pursuits. Ninety percent of the tuition has been paid by the new administration. “We have made every effort to pay off the majority of the debt that the former administration left behind. Under this government, the agreement did not include provisions for medical insurance or feeding.”
As agreed upon, Robertson emphasized that the Indian government was to manage the feeding issues. Robertson also mentioned that the arrangement with the Indian institutions was signed during the previous administration, meaning that the scholarship program and its difficulties were passed down to the present MCSS leadership.
The students insist that their living conditions have gotten unbearable in spite of MCSS’s guarantees. They maintain that because of lack of assistance, they are at risk of being expelled, having their visas revoked, and experiencing worsening health.
“As proud Liberians, we came here to learn for the benefit of our nation, but now we live in fear and uncertainty.
We are going through emotional, mental, and bodily pain. Before it’s too late, we implore the authorities to take notice of our predicament,” Siryon stressed.
