wfn.org | ADRA Opens Teacher Institute In Liberia

["Christian B. Schäffler" <APD_Info_Schweiz@compuserve.com>]

August 13, 1999
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD
CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland

ADRA Opens Teacher Institute To Raise Education Standards In 
Liberia

Monrovia, Liberia/APD     With the number of trained teachers at a 
devastating low in Liberia following seven years of civil war, the 
Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) has rehabilitated 
and opened the Webbo Rural Teachers Training Institute (WRTTI) 
located in south-east Liberia. 

"Before the war, there were approximately 12,000 trained teachers 
under the Ministry of Education (MOE) system in Liberia. The 
literacy rate was between 30 and 40 percent," explains Lyndi Khalil, 
ADRA Liberia education co-ordinator. "There are now only 
approximately 3,000 teachers accounted for in the entire country, 
with most of them located in the larger urban areas. We can be 
sure the literacy rate has significantly dropped as well."

The teacher training program at WRTTI was designed by the MOE 
as an emergency measure to give high school graduate teachers 
some basic knowledge and skills to upgrade their performance, and 
is part of ADRA Liberia's nation-wide focus on education. 
"Sociologists have named Liberia's mass illiteracy as a contributing 
factor to the civil crisis," explains Khalil. "Relief agencies have also 
noted that the lack of educational facilities is a hindrance to the 
return of the Liberian refugees from neighbouring countries. For 
these reasons, ADRA has made this area a top priority."

There are currently 38 administrative, instructional and support staff 
and 71 teacher trainees enrolled at WRTTI. The enrolment of 
teacher trainees can increase to a comfortable 96 if more female 
teachers enrol. Only 13 women are attending the first training 
session. The dormitory has eight rooms for each gender, which can 
hold as many as eight people per room.

After their training, teachers will have one semester of supervised 
instruction before receiving their teaching certificates. They will also 
be encouraged to continue their education at the University of 
Liberia or other private colleges offering formal teacher training.

On June 23, ADRA hosted more than 2,500 attendants at the 
WRTTI's inaugural opening ceremony. Special guests included 
Minister of Education Dr. D. Evelyn S. Kandakai; the United Nations 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) senior program officer 
Olivier Fafa; senior senator for the county Peter Fineboy; county 
superintendent Ruth Milton and her staff; officials from the World 
Food Programme (WFP), and representatives from other 
international NGOs.

ADRA Liberia rehabilitated WRTTI with funding from UNCHR. 
"Rehabilitating the institute was very difficult," says Nagi Khalil, 
ADRA Liberia country director. "When I visited the site in 1998 
along with the Dr. Kandakai and a delegation from UNHCR, we were 
all very discouraged by the condition of the buildings. The forest 
had taken back the hill along with all the buildings."

The WRTTI was originally built in the early 1960s through a grant 
from the United States government to serve the teachers of 
Liberia's southeast region. But, it was never used for that reason. 
The building was used by the Peace Corps from the 1960s to the 
1980s as a residence and high school until war forced the 
evacuation of the volunteers. 

In spite of all setbacks, the Khalil's both believe a new light for 
education now shines from WRTTI with a promise of better-
prepared teachers to meet the educational challenges of post-war 
Liberia.

To help rehabilitate the education system in Liberia, ADRA is also 
distributing school supplies, school furniture and textbooks to 71 
target schools. This project is funded by UNHCR. Additionally, ADRA 
supports sporting activities and girls' education in addition to the 
WRTTI component.

To date, ADRA Liberia has renovated or rebuilt 23 schools in four 
counties around Liberia as part of its nationwide focus on education. 
Funding is provided by ADRA Sweden, ADRA Switzerland, UNHCR 
and the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS). Each of these 
schools received school supplies and furniture and other services. 
ADRA, in partnership with an NGO called All God's Children, is 
operating four free primary schools sponsored by ADRA Sweden. 
Since 1990, ADRA Liberia has been an implementing partner for 
WFP in their Emergency School Feeding Service, feeding children in 
as many as 700 schools each month.

"We hope, and expect, our efforts through all these activities in the 
area of education will make a real difference to the people of 
Liberia," says Lyndi Khalil.