Liberia, Sept. 23 -- Kpolokplah Public School relied entirely on volunteer teachers since the government never assigned staff, leaving the PTA to fund salaries through farming and charcoal sales. A failed harvest cut this income, teachers went unpaid for six months, and struck-closing the school. Government response has focused elsewhere, leaving the crisis unresolved.

DISTRICT TWO, BONG COUNTY - In Kpolokplah Town, deep in Bong County District Two, mornings no longer begin with the shuffle of small feet down dirt paths toward a schoolhouse. There is no morning assembly, no recitation of lessons drifting from open windows, no chalk dust settling on wooden desks. Instead, an entire generation of children sits at home, their school year su...