Liberia: NAEAL Trains Ten Literacy Monitors to Expand Community Adult Education

Gbarnga, Bong County — The National Adult Education Association of Liberia (NAEAL), in partnership with Mission Alliance and local non‑governmental organizations, has completed an eight‑day training program to build capacity among literacy monitors who will help expand adult literacy services across Liberia.

By Franklin Doloquee

The training took place at the Red Cross Facility in Gbarnga City, Bong County and combined five days of initial instruction with three days of follow‑up coaching and practical sessions.

Organizers said the course prepared monitors to serve as community trainers and to open new literacy centers in underserved areas.

“We trained 10 persons. Four from Lofa, four from Bong and one from River Cess, ” said Joseph V. Yoko, NAEAL’s Executive Director.

Yoko explained that the counties targeted for the training have some of the highest adult illiteracy rates in the country and that the new monitors will work to scale literacy activities beyond small pilot projects.

NAEAL, founded in 1977, uses its own adult‑education curriculum adapted for Liberian communities.

During the Gbarnga Workshop, participants reviewed the curriculum’s core modules including basic literacy, numeracy, health literacy and livelihood‑oriented lessons and practiced learner‑centered teaching techniques, adult assessment methods and simple monitoring tools to track attendance and progress.

Trainers used role‑plays, group work and community mapping exercises to help monitors identify priority locations for new centers, potential local facilitators and culturally appropriate outreach strategies.

Participants also received practical guidance on setting up community learning spaces, sourcing low‑cost materials and engaging volunteers and local leaders.

“The training emphasized both pedagogy and sustainability,” Yoko stated. “Monitors will return to their counties not just as supervisors but as trainers of facilitators who can run classes in villages, markets and community halls.”

Yoko pointed out that NAEAL and partners will provide follow‑up technical support and periodic monitoring visits to ensure quality and continuity as centers open. He thanked government stakeholders for their engagement and highlighted plans for a nationwide alternative literacy program expected to reach roughly 1,500,000 Liberians.

Officials have signaled that the government may formally launch the initiative on September 8, International Literacy Day.

Yoko added that local buy in will be essential to that effort.

He urged traditional chiefs, superintendents, district and county education officers, lawmakers and other community leaders to adopt and sustain the project, noting that community ownership improves attendance, retention and long‑term impact.

Participants at the Gbarnga Training described the course as practical and motivating.

One monitor from Lofa said the sessions helped them understand how to teach adults who missed years of schooling and how to adapt lessons to local livelihoods for example, using market prices to teach numeracy or health messages to reinforce sanitation practices.

Organizers plan to monitor graduates as they establish community literacy centers across Bong, Lofa and Rivercess and to collect learner data to measure outcomes such as reading levels, numeracy gains and learners’ reports of how education affects their daily lives.

Mission Alliance and local NGOs will support material distribution, volunteer recruitment and occasional refresher trainings. With the new cohort of monitors, NAEAL aims to move beyond small pilots and create a network of community‑based centers that deliver flexible, locally relevant adult education.

If successful, the model could be scaled to additional counties in the months ahead.