Capitol Hill, Monrovia-August 9, 2021: The Administration of the University of Liberia (UL) has reverted to blended learning for the continuation of the second academic semester.

UL President Dr. Julius Sarwolo Nelson announced the decision Monday, August 9, 2021 as a consequence of significant decline in Coronavirus infection rate, improvement in health statistics, availability of a new batch of vaccines and rapid testing kits in the country.

“On the basis of these developments, and in consultation with all stakeholders, the University of Liberia hereby announces a revert to BLENDED LEARNING for the current semester,” Dr. Nelson said.

Dr Nelson indicated that this would allow the university to have as many traditional in-person classes as possible from the perspective of full adherence to health guidelines which are still in effect, and as much E-Learning as necessary.

With changes affecting the conduct of the current semester, Dr. Nelson said a new calendar of activities has been released by Academic Affairs, disclosing that classes will resume on Wednesday, August 25, 2021, and end on Saturday, November 27, 2021.

As a public university that is concerned not just with academics but also the physical wellbeing of its faculty, students, and staff, Dr. Nelson said the University Administration was constrained to make some adjustments after the Incident Management Team (IMS) and the Ministry of Health announced on 21 June 2021 that the Delta Variant of Covid-19 had hit Liberia.

Subsequently, he said, the UL Administration consulted with students, faculty, staff and key UL stakeholders when it decided to run a fully online semester.

“Cognizant of the fact that Liberia is not yet fully out of the third wave of Covid – 19 spread and that health protocols are still in place, participation in the ‘Traditional Learning’ aspect of this blended learning semester is conditional,” he said.

He encouraged UL employees and students to uphold all other aspects of the revised Covid -19 guidelines released by the health authorities, stressing that everyone must wash hands at the gates of UL campuses and wear facemasks at all times while on campus.

The UL President noted that students signing up for In-person sections are highly encouraged to take the Covid -19 vaccine or must present (at a specified interval) negative Rapid Test results and that the number of students allowed in a section will be determined by the size of the room assigned.