ADEA conducts fact-finding mission to Liberia

ADEA responded to a request by the Liberian Minister of Education Government to visit the country to assess how ADEA  could support educational development in Liberia. Being a post-conflict country, Liberia is faced with a myriad of educational challenges in terms of access, quality and equity that need to be addressed in order to bring the country back on the developmental path.

The Director of the African Development Bank’s country office in Liberia, Dr. Margaret Kilo, facilitated the mission and a briefed ADEA on the overwhelming educational challenges that Liberia is currently facing.

The mission consisted of several meetings with  the Minister of Education, Hon. Mrs. Tarpeh and her two assistant Ministers, Mr. Charles Gaye for STEM/TVET and Dr. Michael Slawon for Higher Education, and with key divisions and units of the Ministry of Education.

The country’s needs range from basic school infrastructure, and learning and teaching materials, to qualified and sufficient teachers in all the sub-sectors. One of the most pressing issues for Liberia and one of President Johnson Sirleaf’s biggest preoccupations is youth unemployment. Indeed, the end of the civil war that the country experienced has created a sizeable group of youth that is currently jobless and in need of training in order to be employed.

ADEA informed the Minister of work conducted over the last two and a half decades that could be brought to bear on Liberia’s needs. ADEA’s current agenda on promoting skills, competencies, qualifications and knowledge for sustainable development was also laid out and a copy of the Strategic Policy framework given to the Ministry.

The mission concluded with the need to put in place a Task Force comprising of ADEA experts that would support Liberia.