Liberia's emergence from 15 years of tremendous upheaval has left it with an unsettled domestic security situation, a disrupted formal economy and a virtually destroyed national infrastructure. Faced with a burgeoning school-age population and the growing demand for education, Liberia's new National Transitional Government--composed of rebel, government and civil society groups--will have to make tough choices about how to go about rebuilding the social and economic structure of this war-torn nation. Given Liberia's history of violence, misgovernment and inequity, most Liberians agree that next to security, reforming the education and health sectors should be top national priorities. At first glance, the challenges facing the education sector appear to overshadow the opportunities it has to educate children. But while Liberia is challenged by huge gaps in access, completion and learning attainment, there is plenty of room for optimism. A rare opportunity exists to learn from the mistakes and consequences of war. If war is, as Professor James Dopoe warns in one of his songs, "a training ground for killers, rapists, and thieves", peace brings a chance to instill new knowledge, values and skills to prevent emerging generations from replicating the mistakes of the past. A destroyed infrastructure provides many opportunities for transformation. And in respect of access and quality, there is much to celebrate in terms of what is happening on the ground. Although further study is needed to document its impact, the Accelerated Learning Project shows much potential as an antidote to poor quality learning. The Claratown Community Project and Stories Hours for Kids, both aimed at building the capacity of girls, serve--among others--as models of good practice for other improvised youth programs.