By: Moses M. Tokpah
Liberia-The chairperson of the committee tasked with the responsibility of vetting individuals who applied for the position of Education Officers in the various counties has expressed discomfort at the poor performance of the applicants in a written test administered by the committee.
Dozens of Liberians wanting to serve as County Education Officers and District Education Officers did not well in the written test, Dr. Cecelia Cassell, who chairs the Committee said.
Dr. Cassell at MICAT’s press briefing over the weekend said some EOs who sat a written test as part of the vetting process scored as low as zero, nine and thirteen marks.
She said an independent team was instituted comprising of education experts, representatives of civil society organization, and religious leaders to vet applicants who wanted to be County Education Officers and District Education Officers.
According to her, the committee used the ‘education act of 2011’ which says that to be an education officer one must have master’s degree in education with two years of experience in the classroom or in the school, or bachelor with five years.
She stated that the committee received 412 applications from the Ministry of Education and it used the first step to sort out the documents on grounds that people who did not do education may have applied and those who did education applied also as such, they had to put them in two separate categories.
Dr. Cassell noted that about 57 of those who wanted to be CEOs did education, though the committee was looking for 15 persons to take over as CEOS for the 16 county education offices.
She averred that the committee had more than 300 applicants for the DEO positions, out of which 227 people who did education passed the first stage.
“Those who crossed the first stage went to the second stage, meaning they had the needed credentials and went to the second stage which has to do with written test and interview,” she said.
“During the written test, CEOs applicants were instructed to use their emails or the email given them on paper to invite their DEOs to a meeting and send it using a computer placed before them, while the DEOs were similarly instructed to invite their principals to a meeting,” Dr. Cassell disclosed.
“The DEOs sat the written test and we had people who scored as low as zero, nine and thirteen, and these are people who supposed to be supervising our principals, supervising our teachers, and if they can give you just a short test just to maybe tell me about yourself why you want to be DEO, you don’t know why you want to be DEO” she went on saying.
She revealed that at the end of the process the committee was able to select the 16 County Education Officers and the 124 District Education Officers.
Dr. Cassell: “There were some who did excellence, very good, good fair and poor so we went for excellence, very good, good and we were able to get the 16 County Education Officers and the 124 District Education Officers.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Cassell has expressed the need for those who are qualified to be in the classroom to provide knowledge for the Liberian students to be allowed to go in the classroom.
“So those who know how to teach people to know book, let them take over the issue of teaching people to know book, this is where we are today” she lamented.
She recounts that the profession has been considered as walk in and walk out noting that it’s time for those who just want to walk in and walk out to go and walk around the side walk while those who know what to do take over.
Dr. Cassell who also is the president of the Professional Educator Association warned that the Association will take issue out with the Ministry of Education should it replace the name of any of the vetted EOs, expressing the need for the right people to be given the position.
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