Lessons from a radical education experiment in Liberia

IN 2016 GEORGE WERNER faced an unenviable task. Liberia’s education minister was in charge of one of the most difficult school systems in the world. More than a decade of civil war and an outbreak of Ebola in 2014 had stopped many children from going to class. Those who did learned little. Just 25% of Liberian women who completed primary school could read, one of the lowest shares anywhere. Mr Werner’s budget was a mere $50 per pupil per year. Many teachers on his payroll were “ghosts” who did not exist but somehow kept on drawing salaries.