Monrovia – Mercy Corp Liberia has embarked on developing a curriculum for teaching renewable energy in technical and vocational schools in Liberia.
The curriculum development project is a component of Mercy Corp Light Up Liberia program funded by the European Union. The estimated cost of this component of the program is 40,000 Euros.
The Renewable Energy Curriculum development component will ensure that Liberian youth develop the skills necessary to work within the growing renewable energy sector.
By training a cadre of Liberian youth to work in the Renewable Energy sector, the project will ensure that the country has workers for the installation and maintenance of renewable energy systems, and will inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs to engage in the sector.
The programme will work with Booker Washington Institute and the Monrovia Technical and Vocational Centre to develop a standard curriculum on renewable energy train and prepare instructors to teach the course and assure quality of the coursework.
This activity will overlap with existing Mercy Corps programmes, which focus on linking youth in technical vocational education and training (TVET) institutions to entrepreneurship training, access to finance for business start-ups, and apprenticeships and on-the-job training for TVET graduates.
This component of the program has been tasked with Recruiting TVETs institutions, Renewable energy Curriculum Consultant, and facilitating the renewable energy curriculum development meetings and trainings.
Mercy Corps has signed an MOU with four TVET institutions to pilot the project. They include, Monrovia Vocational Training Center, Stella Maris Polytechnic, Booker Washington Institute and HELOG academy.
Meanwhile, Mercy Corps has engaged the services of Prof. Peter Adelmann, a consultant to develop the curriculum.
Prof. Adelmann is the Founding Director of the Institute for Decentralized Electrification, Education and Entrepreneurship (id-eee) based in Germany.
A draft of the curriculum has already be reviewed by the review committee comprising Moses Lablah, BWI; Ibrahim F-Solre, BWI; Charles Dorbor, BWI; Jallah G. Sumoiwuo, BWI; Larzarus T. Karhou, MVTC and Henry Appleton: (Responsible for Curriculum development) MOE and Team members from the Light up Liberia Team Program Manager: Kwasi Gyeabour and Julateh K. Mulbah (Curriculum development officer)
Meanwhile, Mercy corps is currently piloting the curriculum with three TVETs institutions which include BWI, MVTC, and Stella Maris. In each institution, there are two solar instructors that were trained by Mercy Corps.
The total number of 254 students are registered including 16 females. Mercy Corps has procured and produced solar products and solar energy books that will be handed over to the three institutions on Tuesday, November 28, 2017 on BWI campus. These products include DC fan, Projector, and PV module.
About Light Up Liberia Program
The Light up Liberia program is a European Union sponsored program that is managed by Mercy corps Liberia. The overall objective of the program is to reduce poverty and improve stability and living condition of the rural poor in Liberia.
In order to implement the overall objective of the Light up Liberia program, the implementation has been divided into four major components: The Market Facilitation, The Renewable Energy Curriculum Development, The Pico-Grid installation and The Financial service component.
Through these various components the program is expected to have the following objectives: Increase access to modern, affordable, sustainable and scalable energy services for the rural poor, improved access to financial services in rural communities promoting economic opportunity and poverty reduction and lastly improve planning and coordination within the rural energy.
The program seeks to achieve a replicable model for solar mini-grids and have distributed generation implemented in 3000 households in rural village energy hubs within Bong, Margibi, Grand Bassa, Lofa, Gbarpolu, Nimba and rural Montserrado Counties.
It further seeks to ensure availability and access to improved lighting, charging and cooking products is increased within the seven counties due to improved market functioning and supporting services for energy market actors, financial products designed to increase access to renewable energy available to 3000 households and Increased local capacity to engage the private sector in developing solutions for rural electrification.
The Light up Liberia program began April 2016 and runs for three years ending March 31, 2019.