MONROVIA – Over 100 teachers from Grand Bassa, Bong, Nimba, Montserado, Grand Cape Mount and Gbapolu counties and 20 of the University of Liberia’s high achieving students are currently undergoing a week-long intensive training. The training organized and sponsored by Educate Liberia, Inc., has brought teachers together from 10 public schools in and out of Montserrado County.
According to Educate Liberia’s CEO Dr. Clarice Ford-Kulah, the training will cover pedagogy and utilize educational methodology that is guaranteed to enhance teacher candidates/classroom teachers on how to teach and meet the basic needs of students in the classroom.
“Our goal is to come and educate these teachers; we want to be able to give them books so they too can teach children how to read. We want to go to counties like Grand Bassa and set up standard STEM labs with computers and access to things that help children learn.
“We have over 107 teachers participating in this week-long training. Almost all of the participants are being housed at the University of Liberia (Fendall Campus) and provided breakfast, lunch, and dinner as our way of saying thanks for all that you do for our children.
“I am based in the US and I most often work with kids who travel from different counties in Liberia to the US. When these kids come from Liberia they are not prepared, people often call me to translate what they are saying even though they speak English. I feel heartbroken because when I attended school in Liberia, our educational system was revered. We could travel to any country and do exceptionally well!”
In an interview with reporters Monday on the UL Fendall Campus, she said they will also train teachers on how to use the curriculum to teach the content, and techniques that they can apply in their various classes to help our Liberian kids catch up with their counterparts around the world.
“Our goal is to do these kinds of trainings every other month. We will be back in September because we want to take over 10 schools where we will train teachers and provide some learning materials. We are taking college curriculum and putting it in teachers’ training.
For his part Deputy Education Minister Alexander Duopu, who graced the opening ceremony of the training challenged teachers to exhibit character of integrity in their various classrooms. He stressed the importance of early childhood education because according to him, it is the foundation on which a solid education is built.
“Early childhood education is very important because you are settling the kids’ foundation. Inclusive education and IT are some of the components that this government has added to the curriculum. Society will break if teachers are not playing their part.
“Teachers need to bring back that culture of integrity because the society is built on what we put out. We know teachers to be people, who sacrifice. Our students are smart but they are not articulate; it is about time we teachers do away with just writing on the chalk board and students copying, we need to make our classes interactive.”
The training is being done by our international trainers from the United States — Dr. Clarice Ford-Kulah, Dr. Rosalita Kennedy, Mrs. Anastacia Simmonds — along with one of UL’s own professors, Mrs. Debbie Scott Caranda and the CFO Elizabeth Armstrong. The organization’s other members present included Madam Charlesetta Williams, Christine Tolbert-Norman, and Roseline Toweh. The week-long event promised to be an exciting, exhilarating, world class training that will assist all participants in moving to the next level in their careers.
The training will cover pedagogy and utilize educational methodology that is guaranteed to enhance teacher candidates/classroom teachers on how to teach and meet the basic needs of students in the classroom.
“Educate Liberia Inc., is an NGO that is dedicated to providing excellent instruction in every classroom. As such, our conglomerate of Liberian educators, social workers, counselors, and the like, believe in the education system of Liberia and are working hard to assist in restoring it.
“Established with the expectation of rapid expansion in education and vocational training, we run and operate schools, develop and oversee curriculum, conduct teaching training/professional development, as well as create conducive learning environments.
“We will be overseeing 10 schools in Liberia in the upcoming year. As such, it is our goal to ensure that teachers are teaching and students are learning in an effort to close the achievement gaps between us and our African counterparts as well as the world at large.”