Monrovia – The Government of Liberia and the European Union will launch the “B” Certificate Teacher Training Program for Junior High teachers on 15th April 2016.
The launch will take place at the Kakata Teacher Training Institute (KRTTI), in the presence of the Vice President and the EU Ambassador. The reactivation of the “B” Certificate is a milestone on the path of strengthening the quality of teacher education in Liberia as there has been no active teacher training programme for Junior High teachers since the civil war.
One hundred teachers, from all fifteen counties of Liberia, will benefit from the in-service training opportunity, including 25 women. It is hoped that in the future more teachers will benefit from the programme.
In line with the Agenda for Transformation and international education standards the updated curriculum now includes cross cutting elements, such as conflict sensitivity, promotion of gender equality, principles of inclusive education and good governance.
The new curriculum also addresses critical issues such as early marriage, teenage pregnancy, corporal punishment and stigmatization of Ebola victims. All teachers will also be trained on the Teacher Code of Conduct.
Media participation in this milestone event is highly welcomed. Background information for Media representatives:
The “B” Certificate curriculum is a two year programme designed to train Junior High School teachers with subject area specialization, ensuring classrooms are filled with more qualified teachers.
The pilot reactivation was made possible through close collaboration between the Ministry of Education and the European Union. Between 2014 and 2015 the European Union supported the Ministry of Education with Technical Assistance to review the curriculum.
The Government of Liberia has allocated USD$400,000 (four hundred thousand United States dollars) in the current fiscal year to support the pilot conducted by a national faculty team, with the support of Technical Assistance provided by the European Union.
The European Union is also providing support to build the capacity of the newly appointed Senior Management of the programme and faculty at KRTTI and supporting the Ministry of Education with capacity building to fulfil its leading role in the monitoring and evaluation of the pilot. In total, the EU has provided EUR 300,000 (three hundred thousand Euro) of support linked to the “B” Certificate reactivation.
Prior to the launch of the “B” Certificate programme, Liberian academics from Universities across the country, international subject experts and other stakeholders assembled in Monrovia in November 2015 to analyse and validate the drafts of the revised curriculum for Junior High teachers.