Liberians should take ownership of education
An official of the Ministry of Education (MOE) is urging Liberians to own the nation’s education process to ensure the sector is transformed. Assistant Education Minister for Basic and Secondary Education Madam Felecia Sackey Doe Sumah says the educational sector can be best transformed when all Liberians take ownership rather than pointing fingers at one institution in the country- the ministry.
She spoke Wednesday, 3 August in Kakata, Margibi County at a four-day workshop on the harmonization of the Alternative Learning Program, a policy of the Ministry of Education. “The best thing can be if all Liberians own education. If we stop pointing fingers at one institution, for example, if you send your child to school, it is your responsibility to find money to make sure the child goes to school. It is also your responsibility to follow up to see what’s happening in the school”, Minister Doe Sumah stressed.
She noted that many parents and guardians send their children to school, but do not care to make further inquiry on how effective their children’s education is. She said even though government has a responsibility to make available the necessary resources in educating her citizens, but the citizens themselves should learn to own the process.
Madam Sumah also noted that citizens have right for instance, to ensure that educational institutions in their areas or communities are supported and protected whether they are indirectly benefiting from them.
In a related development, the Alternative Learning Program or ALP is a policy that she narrated is aimed at creating the pathway for Liberians to learn, adding “there are students who dropped out of school and want to go back to school, students who are too old for their classes and people who just want to be literate enough to manage their own business.”
The current workshop in Kakata is being implemented by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with USAID.
By Ramsey N. Singbeh, in Margibi-Editing by Jonathan Browne
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