MONROVIA-The Liberian Government’s quest to have qualified teaches in the various schools across the country has been buttressed by the Administration of LICOSESS College of Education, by committing to provide five hundred scholarships to in-service Teachers within Montserrado County.
The Issus of unqualified teachers in both public and private schools across the country has been a critical challenge that the Ministry of Education has been confronted with.
During the presidency of former Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, she described the country’s educational system as a mess due to the lack of qualified teachers within the school system across the country.
Due to such statement by former President Sirleaf, the Liberian Government through a bilateral agreement with the Government of Nigeria provided some teachers to assist the government in providing quality education to the young people of Liberia.
With the coming into the country, the Nigerian Teachers for the period of two years did not solve the messy education system.
The Government of President George Weah also inherited the mess in the educational system.
The Unity Party-led Government of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and the Coalition for Democratic Change Led Government of President George Weah through the Ministry of Education worked over the years to improve the Rural Teachers Training Institutes in Margibi, Rivergee and Lofa Counties including the Teacher Colleges across the country with the hope of having qualified teachers within both the private and public schools across the country.
Both the Unity Party-led government and the of CDC-led Government increased the salaries of teachers to attract more qualified Liberians into the classroom yet there are still more works to be done in addressing the lack of trained teachers.
In efforts to provide quality services by qualified teachers to the students of Montserrado County, the Administration of LICOSESS College of Education has initiated a scholarship scheme for five hundred in-service teachers.
“ Given its formal recognition and elevation to a full bachelor’s degree program by the government of Liberia and coupled with the fact that LICOSESS’ vision over the last 26 years has always been to buttress the efforts of the Ministry of Education in providing qualified teachers to the school systems across the country, LICOSESS sees it obligatory at this time, to give back as part of her social corporate responsibility, by offering a one-year-tuition-free-scholarship to 500 teacher-students from in and around Monrovia”, the administration’s statement indicated.
The statement furthered: “this is a one-school-one-scholarship scheme intended to reduce the ratio of unqualified teachers within 500 schools in Montserrado’’.
According to the Administration, each recognized school in Montserrado is eligible to submit one teacher to benefit from the scholarship.
The administration added that the 500 scholarships are not part of the USAID-RTI Scholarship initiative.
“As per the MOU signed between LICOSESS and RTI, the USAID-RTI scholarship, which modalities have not yet concluded, will ONLY target candidates for Early Childhood Education and Primary Education and with a specific focus on female candidates as well as those with disabilities” the Administration noted.
The LICOSESS Administration further indicated that the Scholarship is attainable for candidates in any of the college’s programs including the “C” Certificate, Associate of Arts and its Bachelor Degree programs. Accordingly, current Students of the school are also eligible for the Scholarship forms and can be picked up from the Central Campus in the GSA Road, for only 500.00LD.
The LICOSESS Scholarship, specifically, targets in-service teachers trained in dissimilar disciplines rather than teacher education (i.e, a teacher with BSc in accounting who is currently employed in a school).
Moreover, the LICOSESS Administration also announces that as of May 1, 2022, all arrears in the form of tuition and fee arrears, graduation fee arrears, practice teaching arrears, staff loan arrears, and salary advance arrears above 5000.00LD or 50USD from the year 1997 to December 2021 are waved, “This declaration affects all counties in which we currently operate. The Cancellation of areas will only last up to June 30 2022”.
Alphonso Toweh
Has been in the profession for over twenty years. He has worked for many international media outlets including: West Africa Magazine, Africa Week Magazine, African Observer and did occasional reporting for CNN, BBC World Service, Sunday Times, NPR, Radio Deutchewells, Radio Netherlands. He is the current correspondent for Reuters
He holds first MA with honors in International Relations and a candidate for second master in International Peace studies and Conflict Resolution from the University of Liberia.