Teachers in training workshops in Liberia - I draw benefits too

On Monday, We-CARE Foundation opened two parallel teacher training workshops at St. Teresa Convent in Monrovia. The events marked Reading Liberia’s project expansion to 26 schools. The workshops will run for 5 days. On the first day, participants were introduced to choral reading and discussed techniques for teaching reading and writing using simple texts. The workshops will have a strong impact on the initial outcomes of the Reading Liberia project. Ten certified teacher trainers are facilitating the workshop with ease and confidence. They are also notably balanced by gender.

The exit cards at the end first day indicated that trainees were generally impressed. There were questions such as how to fit the ABC techniques into 45 minutes [which is the typical length of a lesson in most schools]. Trainees also asked for continued peer support.

I took away several things; established connections with the teachers and trainers and understood their respective working conditions better. There is no doubt that Reading Liberia has some amazing trainers – motivated, experienced and breeding confidence. I enjoyed talking to Florence, Mike, Johnson and Anna. It will be a huge help when we start up Reading Sierra Leone later in the year.

As a parent, I learned how to use read aloud technique and develop writers starting from simple pictures. I was reminded about the value of making voices, changing tones, making faces to bring the characters to life; the importance of reading through a story first to prepare when to build suspense or ask questions. With this, I should be able to help my two kids to become fluent readers and better writers.

so I spent time visiting schools and talking to students, teaching staff. I sought to understand the nature of challenge that Reading Liberia is faced with, where the children stand in terms of reading and writing abilities and efforts underway in the classrooms. I was pleasantly surprised that the classes I visited, mostly grades 4 & 5, had more girls than boys or equal numbers. And, the girls were very active in classroom activities. But the painful part is that the percentage of girls will drop to a mere 10% by junior high school according to Mike [who is well knowledgeable about Liberia’s education system]. And this statistic is up there among the grand injustices of our time. Don’t you agree?

If I had any doubts about the nature of the influence We-CARE has in the country, I got my answer this week. During one of our meetings, a phone rang and, on the end of the line was the Deputy Minister of Education. How did I know? I heard Mike say repeatedly “yes Minister”. When the call was done, I asked for details. The Minister had called inquiring if We-Care had any books he could buy. He had heard of the famous books and now a large donor was itching to spend some money on them! We then turned our discussion to finding the best way to respond to the Minister in light of our book production timelines. Things are looking up indeed. I am also wondering if 30,000 copies per title might be enough if USAID and the Ministry were to follow through on their interest to purchase books.