MONROVIA, Montserrado – Liberia’s Minister of Education, Jarso Jallah, has announced a nationwide vetting of 2,000 volunteer teachers beginning on July 8.
Jallah said half of vetted volunteer teachers will be placed on the government’s payroll at the end of August this year.
She made the statement on July 7, 2024 when she appeared before the Liberian Senate to provide updates on the ministry’s activities. She said the vetting process would be done through a vigorous nationwide assessment.
According to a 2016 Education Sector Analysis conducted by the Ministry of Education and Global Partnership for Education, volunteer teachers comprise 26 percent of teachers in government and community schools nationwide. They are usually provided a small stipend by the community and the school’s Parents Teachers Association.
Jallah told the Senate Committee on Education that the assessment would establish the number of volunteer teachers in the country and provide details about their gender, subject areas, and qualifications. The evaluation is necessary to correct some of the issues the ministry identified during a recent assessment tour of the country, she said.
“During the assessment tour, we have some good volunteer teachers, and we have some that do not belong in our classrooms – they are Liberians worthy of livable opportunities, but not in the classrooms,” the education minister said. “So, the idea here is to vet them through some form of assessment to see their readiness and trainability for providing education delivery service in our schools.”
Jallah disclosed that during the tour, she was not pleased with the performance of some of the volunteer teachers in the classrooms, something she said needs to be addressed with the support of the government and education partners.
“During the tour, I had brief conversations; I sat in classrooms, observed instructions, and what I saw was heartbreaking,” she said. “Some teachers could not pronounce – there were wrong vocabularies on the boards, and they are teaching our students the wrong things and the students just copy and go on.”
Following the assessment, the Ministry of Education will work with the Civil Service Agency to place the qualified teachers on the government payroll. Jallah said the Civil Service Agency guidelines would determine the teachers’ salaries.
Jallah also informed the Senate Education Committee that the ministry would establish three regional hubs nationwide to facilitate regular monitoring and evaluation of the education system.
“We have a [district education officer] that may have about 30 schools under his/her supervision – that DEO is not adequately supported to do the school level, district level, and county level monitoring and supervision that is required in system strengthening,” Jallah told the Senate Education Committee.
She noted that five personnel would be trained and assigned at each regional hub to carry out performance, infrastructure, and sustainability assessments of schools.
She said the hubs would be functional between August to December this year.
Featured photo by Calsious Weatoe
