Sen. Oscar Cooper Seeks Autonomy for Teacher Training Institutions

Margibi County Senator Oscar Cooper says any discussion on the priority needs of the county without health and education is an understatement. Senator Cooper said the 14 years of civil crisis left many scars on the county that affected every fabric of society, causing all sectors to be lagging behind. He said if post-war Liberia is to rapidly developed, government should prioritize the human resource base of the country to enable the citizens to forge ahead.

According to the Liberia News Agency, Senator Cooper made these observations over the weekend when he spoke at the graduation of Pre-Service “C” Certificate holders at the Kakata Rural Teachers Training Institute (KRTTI).

He said it was quite interesting to note that as a result of the civil war, there are more educated adults than  the young people in the country’s history adding; “It is about time that the younger generation learn more than the older ones.” He said in order to make this possible, the KRTTI must be one of the lead institutions in the country that is better seated to help in bridging that gap.

During the ceremony, more than 200 Pre-Service teachers received “C” Certificates from seven counties, including Grand Bassa, Rivercess, Bomi, Gbarpolu, Grand Cape Mount, Montserrado and Margibi, respectively.

Senator Cooper urged the graduates to go out and help by making the ultimate sacrifice that will greatly help to transform Liberia’s postwar educational sector that is far lagging behind. At the same time, the Margibi County lawmaker is calling on government to grant autonomous status to all Rural Teachers Training Institutes across the country.

Senator Cooper said he will begin the process at the National Legislature to ensure that through the government’s national policy on decentralization, teachers training institutions in Liberia are granted autonomous status to move away from Monrovia and empower local administrators.

Senator Cooper he will begin the process at the national legislature to ensure that the issue of granting autonomous status to teachers training institutes in the country becomes a reality.

Senator Cooper also noted that there are thing these TTIs in the country needs and cannot always depend on donors as there is a possibility of donor fatigue and government must exert every effort aimed at providing more budgetary support to these learning institutions that are building the foundation for our future leaders of our country.

He then also used the occasion to thank the donor community including the USAID through it teachers training programs for the level of support it continue to provide for the educational sector of this country.