MoE officials-designate want budgetary increment

Deputy Education Minister for Administration- designate, Aagon Tingba, has called for increment in the ministry’s budget to conform to its challenges.

Minister-designate Tingba told the Senate Standing Committee on Education and Public Administration during his confirmation hearing that last week that his responsibility covered the financial and human resource aspects of the ministry.

“In addressing the financial aspect against this backdrop, a glance at the ministry’s 2014/2015 portion of the national budget limits its intentions to cover the 73 electoral and 98 education districts of Liberia,’’ Mr. Tingba said, noting that a quick analysis of the ministry’s budget since 2012/2013 fiscal year to present showed that the portion of the national budget being allocated to the Education Ministry was curved around six to seven percent.

He indicated that pillar three of the Agenda for Transformation or AFT focuses on restoring basic education, through expanding access and improving quality education by rebuilding educational facilities, providing learning materials, training teachers and introducing accelerated learning for older learners.

He noted that these transformative agenda items were embedded with constraints in achieving the ministry’s strategic objectives, stressing that if confirmed, he would ensure the establishment, management and supervision of all schools in Liberia in consonance with the Education Reforms Act of 2011.

Also appearing before the Committee last Wednesday, Deputy Education Minister for Instruction-designate, Dr. Romel Horton, promised to discourage ghost names on the ministry’s payroll and ensure that teachers receiving government salary remain committed to the classroom.

Dr. Horton emphasized the need to employ trained teachers in the school system, stressing that this would ensure quality learning in the country.

He said if confirmed, she would place strong emphasis on Early Childhood Education program because Liberia’s problem was the lack of  “strong foundation’’ which usually leads to mass failure of Liberian students. By Ben P. Wesee – Edited by George Barpeen