By Moses M. Tokpah,mosesmtokpah@gmail.com
KAKATA, Liberia- As part of the implementation of the Liberia Education Advancement Program (LEAP) Year IV Teacher, School Administrators and School Monitors Training, Youth Movement for Collective Action (U-Movement) has trained over eighty (80) teachers and principals in Margibi County.
The training, which lasted for two days each took, place at the Weala Public School in Weala and the Survivor Aid International Liberia (SAIL) in Kakata Margibi County.
The Weala training brought together 34 teachers and Principals from five public schools from the Gibi Educational District. They include the Peter Printer Public School, the Kono’s Town Public School, the Konatee Town Public School, the Weala Public School and the Daniel B. Marse Public School.
The Kakata training on the other hand brought together over 50 teachers from six public schools covering the Kakata Educational District and Fuamah District. The schools art the Special Project Public School, the Gwekpolosue Public School, the Velley-Ta Public, the Mawoda Public School, the Wenneh Town Public School as well as the Mawah Public School located in Bong Mine Lower Bong County.
According to the Communication Associate of Youth Movement for Collective Action, Eugene K. Myers, the training is one of the Organization’s regular refresher training workshops.
Mr. Myers said his Institution usually conducts refresher training workshop for teachers at fifteen public schools in Bong and Margibi Counties saying, ‘we regularly train and follow-up on them’.
He disclosed that the training focuses on several topics such as improving numeracy and literacy outcome for students as well as play-based learning program.
“We are teaching them on varieties of topics, one for example, we talk about improving numeracy and literacy outcome for students in a way that the nation gets the kind of students it needs from the pre-primary to the primary level that is from grade one to six grade,” Mr. Myers said.
“So we get the play-based learning program where we try to train teachers how to engage students effectively and forget about whipping, especially excessive whipping that can make students to be afraid of education, be afraid of school and they are psychologically traumatize. So, we’re training them in a new way to handle students in Liberia,” the Communications Associate of the Youth Movement added.
The Organization is providing training for 129 teachers in 15 public schools in Margibi and Bong Counties under the Liberia Education Advancement Program (LEAP) Year IV Teachers, School Administrators and School Monitors Training.
Mt. Myers averred that the last phase of the training will be held in Bong County beginning from December 6-7, 2019. At the end of the trainings, he said teachers will be or were certificated.
The Organization’s expectation is to continue to build the capacity of the teachers; they will use the problem solving skills in the classroom for students and enable those students to have a better outcome whenever they sit for public exams.
Mr. Myers recounts that their expectation is also for the performance of the Nation, the Government of Liberia and the people of Liberia to double up again.
Giving a background of the organization and the project, Myers said “Youth Movement for Collective Action” is a local NGO that is working into the educational sector trying to solve societal problems collectively.
“Youth Movement for Collective Action (UMOVEMENT) is a registered national non-governmental, non-political and non-for-profit organization founded in 2011,” he said.
The Youth Movement for Collective Action’s Communication Associate also indicated that one of the ways they’re doing that is they got a project they’re implementing buttressing the effort of the government under the LEAP project which is a public private partnership (PPP) with the Government of Liberia to help the government improve learning outcome in literacy and normalcy at public schools.
This organization was selected among seven International Organizations to implement the LEAP project.
For his part, the Acting County Education Officer of Margibi, Stephen H. Toe, Jr. thanked the Organization for the level of training opportunity provided for the teachers in terms of how kids can be taking care of when they shall have return to their classes.
Mr. Toe, Jr. at the same time pledged the Ministry of Education’s support to whatever endeavours the organization ventures into that will help move the educational sector forward.
He used the opportunity to call on participants of the two days training to take the training very seriously thus reminding them that Liberia and the kids (students) need them most.