Liberia: Precious Pearl Ireland Foundation to be Launched One Year after She Was Shot by Schoolmate at Cyber Ed Christian School

Monrovia – One year after the fatal shooting incident that took away the life of little Precious Pearl Ireland at the Cyber Ed Christian School, a foundation is set to be launched to prevent future campus-based violence at every learning institution across the country.

On April 13, 2021, a student brandishing a 9mm pistol sneaked into Cyber-Ed Christian School shot and killed little Precious, his schoolmate. She was 16-year-old when she died.

It is a year since the shooting incident and a foundation, the Precious Pearl Ireland Foundation, will be launched on April 30, 2022 at the Monrovia City Hall to prevent other children from falling prey to such a regretful incident.

According to the statement from Ireland’s family, their decision to establish a foundation in Precious’ name is to keep alive her memories so that all students will know that campus-based violence is not unique to Precious Pearl Ireland alone and that they too (all students) are potential victims if the right effort is not made.

“The culture of gun proliferation in Liberian schools has been unheard of until the fatal death of Precious Pearl Ireland on the campus of the Cyber Ed Christian School on 13 April 2021,” the statement cited.

The family stated: “The late Precious died as a result of being shot by one of her schoolmates who was illegally in possession of a firearm on campus. Precious was a victim of trust – trusted that her school campus was a child-friendly environment at all time; trusted that all parents represented a protective shield and guaranteed safety for all children; trusted all other kids without conditions because she believed that their respective parents instill in them the culture of respect for others, those values her own parents made her subscribe to; and trusted that kids would be protected by society through moral and legitimate laws promulgated for the common good of all.”

According to the family, one major thing that resonates with the death of Precious Pearl Ireland is the vulnerability of children across most campuses.

“We as parents believe that the recurrence of such a sad situation on other campuses must not be overlooked. A good number of school campuses do not have in place the sort of infrastructure as well as safeguards to prevent such a situation in the future,” the family stated.