-Call for adequate investment in teachers’ education
By G. Naway Gumeh, gumehnaway@gmail.com
+231775032080
The National Coordinator of Standard Teacher Training Institute, Andrew S. Fayiah says the educational sector is doomed for collapse, with the lack of adequate investment in teachers’ education.
Rev. Fayiah believes the growing wave of untrained teachers who are said to be mentoring students is troubling for the country noting that if not urgently fast tracked, would terribly undermine the already struggling educational sector.
“There are categories of teachers in the classrooms. We have trained and untrained teachers. Because we have a proliferation of untrained teachers in our school system in Liberia, we are having mass failure of students in public exams,” Rev. Fayiah disclosed.
The veteran educator stressed the need for increased support to teachers’ education as a means of promoting best teaching practices and adequately preparing students for future challenges.
The Coordinator of the Standard Teachers Training Institute is however urging government to see the tuition-free Standard Teacher Training Institute as “partner in progress”.
“We are running this program in an apparant move to buttress government’s efforts in the teachers’ qualification framework as such, we solicit the support of the government and partners,” Rev. Fayiah said.
Though there are other challenges but decried the institution’s inability to currently meet up with payment of trainers as a major challenge with a call for help, he noted.
Rev. Fayiah said the institution is finding it extremely difficult to pay masters and doctorate degree holders for services they are rendering to the institution.
He made the assertions in a recent exclusive interview with www.newspublictrust.com when Standard Teacher Training institute in collaboration of Ministry of Education recently climaxed exit exams for about 400-Teachers in Montserrado County.
Also speaking at the end of the exit exams, Zangar Budyoa, a classroom teacher who is also one of the trainees said the training is an eye-opener.
“I went to the classroom without any experience in teaching. But since I enrolled at the STTI, my eyes are opened. I have a broader knowledge in teaching,” Mr. Budyoa stated.
He also explained that “If Liberia is to be a great country, the citizens must be educated and if the citizens must be educated, government must focus on teachers’ education.”
Mr. Budyoa furthered that “if those who are mentoring students are not properly educated, they wouldn’t be able to present lessons well which would undermine the educational sector”.
Another trainee, Mrs. Adama Bah Jawandoh, a proprietress said “I didn’t plan it but when I came to this training with no idea in teaching, my time here is not wasted. I don’t regret coming for such training.
She explained that she was taught child psycology, classroom management, instructional planning among several other areas in teaching.
Mrs. Jawandoh also joined her colleagues to urge
government and partners to revive the educational sector by investing more
resources in teacher education.