Monrovia – The Plenary of the House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Education to appear before that body next Tuesday, April 26, 2016 to give reasons on issues surrounding students on the Italian Government Scholarship and to provide information on the Private Public Partnership.
Members of the House reached the decision on Thursday, 14 April during the 21-day sitting of the 5th Session based on a resolution to the Ministry of Education from students and parents of the Italian Scholarship.
According to the parents, after the issuance of Entry Visas to the twenty-seven students from the Italian Embassy in La Cote d’Ivoire on February 26, 2015, it remains a mystery on why the scholarship program was put on hold by the Minister of Education, thus preventing the students from traveling.
“The Children were taken to Cote d’Ivoire for the said requested Visas issuance on February 26, 2015 and subsequently returned on March 6, 2015 after the completion of the visas process.
Henceforth, the parents were cited in the Ministry of Education Conference Hall and informed that their children would have left the Liberian soil for Italy by March 14, 2015; especially after they would have been presented to the President of Liberia who initiated the scholarship. It is interesting to note that as of the said timing and now, nothing has been revealed as to what has happened to the entire process,” they stated in the resolution.
During the discussion on the matter, the Chairman of the House’s Committee on Education, Hon. Mathew Zarzar, expressed his dissatisfaction over the lack of cooperation from the Minister of Education and termed his deliberate refusal to appear before the Education Committee to address the reason behind the halt on the Italian Government Scholarship and the Private Public Partnership and as being disrespectful to Members of the Committee.
Following deliberation on the floor, plenary endorsed a motion from Hon. Eugene Fallah Kparkar of District#1, Lofa County that the Minister of Education, Mr. George Werner appears before the House on Tuesday, April 14, 2016.
The debate about improving the Liberian education system through the privatization of the sector has been met with mix reaction with some supporting the proposal while others including the National Teachers Association strongly opposed the proposal.
Beneath the fine prints of a proposal to improve the educational system in Liberia is an ambitious deal that will see the government of Liberia pay over US$65 million over a five-year period to a private American firm.
Bridge International has successfully pitched its model as a technology-driven one relying on teachers reading standardized lessons from hand-held tablet computers but many see the plan as facing an uphill task in Liberia where many youngsters in both rural and urban areas still trek miles to school and many sit on the floors to learn, a nation where teachers have been trekking to the city for months and abandoning their classrooms and running after their pay-checks.