-As Edu Min designate Sonii meets outgoing George Werner
The future of the 118,000 primary school-aged Liberian children who are currently out of school were among challenges facing the country’s education system that were discussed during a recent meeting Education Minister-designate Prof. Ansu Sonii held with the outgoing Minister George Werner.
In addition to that, Werner said Liberia is currently facing a shortage of 6,000 teachers due to lack of funds, according to an Education Ministry press release issued at the weekend.
He said the budget does not provide enough money to allow for activities like school construction and repairs, and classroom furniture.
According to him, it is estimated that an ideal annual budget to be US$100 million, to ensure that the Ministry could take care of schools and hire the number of teachers needed.
Since he became Education Minister in the government of former President Ellen Johnson Sireleaf, George Werner has been heavily criticized for his style of management and allegedly failing to consult with educational stakeholders.
On many occasions, the National Teachers Association of Liberia (NTAL) and other groups had called for his dismissal.
The meeting between Prof Soinii and outgoing Minister Werner also covered the importance of enshrining the right to free early childhood education into law, as the 2011 Education Reform Act. This Act currently prescribes free and compulsory education for only grades 1-6.
Outgoing Minister Werner is said to have given Prof Sonii an overview of the challenges and the opportunities of the education sector, which former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf had described as “a mess”.
“The government has a responsibility to ensure that its entire population has access to quality education, but that is an expensive right,” Min. Werner said and pledged his support to Liberia’s education system after he has left office.
Because of the Ministry’s limited budget, Minister Werner told Prof Sonii that “the success of your schools will depend on the creativity of your leadership,” before detailing creative measures he has used to achieve significant results during his two years as minister.
“There is a growing recognition that the private sector cannot be left out of the provision of public education,” he said.
“The government simply doesn’t have the money,” Werner said.
The outgoing Minister said that one of such public-private programs is the Partnership Schools for Liberia (PSL), a pilot program run by the Ministry of Education and selected non-state school operators. The partnership is with the Bridge International Academy.
PSL has one overriding mission: to provide every child, regardless of family background or income, access to high-quality, free education. The program is working collaboratively with successful operators to create high-performingschools that are hubs of innovation and educational excellence – with the ultimate aim of rolling out what works across the wider system.
“The students do not pay anything. The uniforms are free. The books are there. The government provides the teachers,” Min. Werner told the Education Minister-designate.
“The teachers in these schools are on government payroll, they’re receiving training, their performance is monitored, they’re teaching according to the curriculum, and we’re targeting the basics – primary level,” Werner said.
However, many local and international education stakeholders, including United Nations officials, have criticized Werner’s decision to give part of the country’s school system to the Bridge International Academy to run, claiming that the program has failed in a number of African countries.
Responding, the Education Minister-designate acknowledged the need to look outside traditional funding sources to improve learning outcomes for children.
“You don’t give your wife $100 to have party for 50 of your friends,” Prof. Sonii said, characterizing the dire state of the education budget.
Prof. Sonii asked outgoing Minister for his support to continue the work he already started, something Werner vowed to do.
Also present during the meeting were the newly appointed Deputy Education Minister-designate for administration, Latim Da-thong and the head of the Education Delivery Unit, GbovadehGbilia.