01/08/2026
PRESS RELEASE
LICOSESS COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND OPPORTUNITY NETWORK LIBERIA SIGN LANDMARK 15-YEAR PARTNERSHIP..... Officially Turning over the management of all CAN School System Campuses in Montserrado, B**g and Nimba Counties!!!
August 1, 2026
CAN Leadership Academy Campus, Gbarnga, B**g County, Liberia.....
LICOSESS College of Education and Opportunity Network Liberia (ONL) today officially entered into a historic 15-year Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that establishes one of Liberia's most significant public-interest partnerships in private education.
The agreement places the management and academic leadership of the CAN Leadership Academy School System under Licosess College of Education to expand access to quality education and strengthen teacher preparation throughout Liberia.
The signing follows a series of successful transition and turnover meetings conducted on July 30 and 31, 2026 in Jacob Town, Montserrado County; Gbarnga, B**g County; and Neigbein, Nimba County, during which administrators, teachers, and support staff were formally introduced to the new governance framework and the transition implementation plan.
Scope of the Partnership
Under the Agreement,
LICOSESS College of Education assumes responsibility for the academic, administrative, institutional, and quality assurance management of the CAN Leadership Academy system while Opportunity Network Liberia continues to provide strategic oversight as the founding institution.
The partnership is founded on the principles of:
Academic excellence
Professional management
Transparency and accountability
Child protection and student welfare
Financial sustainability
Continuous teacher professional development
Innovation in teaching and learning
Long-term institutional growth
The Agreement also establishes CAN Leadership Academy as an official LICOSESS Demonstration School, creating a direct link between teacher education and classroom practice.
Three-Campus Educational Network
The partnership brings together three strategically located campuses across Liberia:
Current Enrollment
Jacob Town, Montserrado
Approximately 790
Gbarnga, B**g County
400
Neigbein, Nimba County 500
Total Capacity
students
Approximately 1,190
Together, the campuses comprise approximately:
65 classrooms
20 administrative offices
More than 40 modern bathrooms equipped with water closets (commodes) and running water
Two 50 KVA standby generators
Campus-wide running water systems
Starlink high-speed internet connectivity
Approximately 2,000 student chairs
Approximately 75 student desks
A growing inventory of educational resources and equipment
The Agreement also includes a detailed inventory of institutional assets, including:
Musical instruments for arts education such as violins, keyboards, guitars, drums, recorders, trumpets, tambourines, and other instructional instruments
Nine industrial tailoring machines supporting vocational education
Science and instructional materials
Office furniture and equipment
Guest houses in
Montserrado and B**g Counties comprising more than 20 accommodation rooms
Televisions and multimedia instructional equipment
Additional educational, administrative, and operational assets as documented in the official inventory attached to the MOA.
Expanding Higher Education Opportunities
An important component of the Agreement is the relocation of the
LICOSESS College of Education Patmelia Annex to the Jacob Town campus beginning with the
September–November 2026 Trimester, and the Relocation of the
LICOSESS College of
Education from St Peters Episcopal High School in B**g, creating an integrated educational environment where future teachers receive practical experience within a functioning Demonstration School.
The partnership also provides a foundation for future expansion into additional teacher education programmes, educational research, innovation, and community engagement.
Building a Sustainable Educational Institution
The Agreement introduces comprehensive governance reforms, including:
Strengthened financial management systems
Joint oversight through a Partnership Council
Performance monitoring and accountability mechanisms
Transparent human resource management
Modern procurement and reporting procedures
Continuous professional development for teachers and administrators
Policies promoting child safeguarding, ethical conduct, and quality assurance
These reforms are intended to rebuild public confidence while ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Academy.
Benefits to Liberia
The partnership represents far more than a change in school management.
It creates an integrated model that connects early childhood, primary, secondary, and teacher education within one coordinated system. Through this approach, future teachers trained by
LICOSESS will gain supervised practical experience in Demonstration Schools while current students benefit from improved instructional quality, stronger academic supervision, and enhanced educational resources.
The collaboration also expands educational opportunities in Montserrado, B**g, and Nimba Counties, strengthening access to quality schooling and contributing to Liberia's national efforts to improve learning outcomes, teacher effectiveness, and institutional governance.
By combining the educational expertise of LICOSESS College of Education with the infrastructure and community investments of Opportunity Network Liberia, the partnership demonstrates how collaboration can accelerate educational transformation and create lasting opportunities for children, teachers, and communities.
Looking Ahead
Implementation activities have already commenced and include:
Launch of the 2026/2027 student recruitment campaign
Free Vacation and Enrichment School
Campus engineering and classroom readiness assessments
Infrastructure improvements and renovations
Intensive professional development for teachers and administrators
Admission of new students from Nursery through Grade 12
Expansion of LICOSESS College of Education programmes at the Jacob Town campus, B**g and Nimba Counties
Both institutions reaffirm their commitment to working collaboratively over the next fifteen years to establish CAN Leadership Academy as one of Liberia's leading models of educational excellence.
Together, Opportunity Network Liberia and LICOSESS College of Education are investing not only in schools, but in Liberia's future—building stronger institutions, preparing better teachers, and creating greater opportunities for every child to learn, grow, and lead.
