Monrovia – Schools under the management of Bridge International continue to witness an increased enrolment across the country. Bridge Deputy Country Director Joe Gbasakollie said the organization is being challenged by the huge enrollment given the attraction their management of government schools has brought to parents and communities.
The parents who spoke to journalists when Bridge held its grand opening ceremonies over the weekend said they are encouraged by the new management model put in place by Government; something they say will improve the quality of education their children will receive at public schools.
Thousands of community members across the countries thronged the premises of their respective of the Primary Schools which are under Bridge Partnership to welcome the organization. Bridge is currently managing 24 pubic primary schools under a Public Private Partnership with the Government of Liberia to support Government agenda to bring radical transformation to public education in Liberia. Bridge Partnership Schools for Liberia is among 8 other partners supporting Government on this initiative.
At Upper Careysburg and Kendeja in Montserrado County, as residents across the eight counties where Bridge has operations, parents, teachers and students came out to grace the grand opening of Bridge Partnership Schools, as the 2016/2017 academic year begins. Bridge Partnership Grand Opening has come out of months of intensive work by the Organization’s Liberian staff. Bridge launched a two week teachers training for more than 300 teachers who were already graduates of the Government run teachers’ training institutes.
Eighty-eight teachers trained at Bridge two weeks intensive training in Kakata, were already on Government payroll while additional 149 teachers vetted and certified by Bridge are being processed on Government payroll for the first time. The enthusiasm was visible on the faces of thousands of parents, teachers and students who gathered at the Upper Careysburg and Kendeja Public Schools for the grand opening programs.
The same situation was witnessed across the counties. In Bomi County, our correspondent said communities were in high gear for the open day. Jefferson P. Jackson, Vice Principal for Instruction at Upper Careysburg told the gathering that the training he along with his colleagues got from Bridge has transformed the way lessons will be delivered as the school year begins. Jackson asserted: “for the past years we have been teaching here at this Upper Careysburg Primary School; never have we had access to technology in the way we deliver our lessons; at the recent two weeks training, we learned how to use technology to deliver our lessons; to prepare our lesson plans and to monitor the way the lessons are being delivered; I used to teach in this school; we have had many problems with lesson planning in the past; teachers will forget their lesson plans; they will leave them at home; and then it becomes a problem for the lesson during a particular day; now forward, we have our lessons being delivered to us through our teacher computers; our students can be assured to receive quality education as the new school year begins” Jackson asserted.
Upper Careysburg Principal, George K. Commandine, appreciated the community for the level of support his team has received since returning from the training. Commandine stated: “since we arrived from the training, the PTA have been very supportive of our work; the day we arrived here on August 12; the following day, we invited the PTA Chairman and informed him of the Bridge Partnership; they all were excited; because the students have been on vacation, the entire campus was covered by bushes; the PTA mobilized the community and just before the week ended, the campus had been cleaned; previously, we barely had students attending classes; the community had not been involved; we have not seen the level of cooperation from the parent as compared to what we have witnessed in the last few weeks; the parents are very supportive; they have mobilized their children to be enrolled and all is now set for classes to begin on September 5.
It is incredible the motivations and cheers exhibited at the open days across the country. One Bridge Partnership Teacher George P. Blahpue of Upper Careysburg Public School asserted: “the number of enrollment here may be more than the school can accommodate; parents have brought their children from other schools within the community and have enrolled them here at the Upper Careysburg Primary School; I too brought my children from Monrovia to attend this school; what I have been yearning for my children to benefit has come in our community; why should I leave them in Monrovia?
I brought them here, to get a good education, Blahpue said. PTA Chairman, Daniel Logan, said the community was proud to be host to a Bridge Partnership School. Logan stated: “we are proud that you elected to work in our community; we will give you all the support you need, to make sure that our children learn and that school performs in a better way; we are so proud to host you here”.
The Grand Opening programs were done simultaneously across the eight counties and 24 public primary schools which have now been effectively placed under the management of Bridge Partnership Schools for Liberia.
Delivering the speech statement on behalf of the organization at the Kendeja Public School, Deputy Country Director Joe Gbasakollie said the moment was one of excitement; “to see thousands of community members converge across all the 24 schools in the eight counties where Bridge is operating is wonderful; this should send a message; that the parents want quality for their children; they don’t care about the public; they want education for their children and this is what we are here to do”.
Joe continued: “Never a time have we seen such an excitement as we are seeing today; teachers are excited that they have been relieved of the stress to prepare lessons and will now concentrate on delivering lessons and ensuring that children are actually learning; the strength of our approach is the emphasis we placed on student learning; we ensure that our students are at the center of every lesson delivered in the classroom every minute; this is what we have accomplished around the world and this is what we will accomplish in Liberia as we begin the academic year; we care about children; we want our children to learn and this is what we want to do here, said Gbasakollie.
Speaking further, the Deputy Country Director said the total of 1,000 e-readers for pupils, 800 teacher computers and 100 smartphones has been brought in country to advance this new innovative teaching and learning. Additionally, according to Joe Gbasakollie, 30,000 textbooks and over 10,000 teachers’s guides have been shipped in country for instructional purposes.
He said over 8,000 pupils are expected to enroll in Bridge 24 academies this academic year. The Deputy Country Director praised the Ministry of Education for her support and reaffirmed Partnership Schools for Liberia’s commitment to improving literacy and numeracy outcomes at public primary schools; and enhancing Ministry of Education’s ability to monitor school performance and to assess learning outcomes.
Students attending Bridge Partnership Schools all across the country can be assured of free uniforms per child including books, readers and learning supplementary kits in Math and Science, Josh Nathan, Bridge Academic Director assured the parents.