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Liberia: Prof. Mwagbe Discusses Higher Education
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The NEWS (Monrovia)
28 March 2008
Posted to the web 28 March 2008
Monrovia
A Liberian professor based in the United States has called on the Ministry of Education to organize a conference to evaluate the state of higher education and discuss best practices that could be adopted to ensure that Liberian college graduates become productive globally.
Speaking during an interview with the The News, Prof. Jerry M. Mwagbe, currently serving as Visiting Professor of English at Cuttington University disclosed that the holding of such conference is vital in helping to reshape the state of Liberian higher education especially if it ends with recommendations that could be implemented by the Higher Education Commission.
Commenting further, the Visiting Prof. asserted that the adoption of such strategies will not only foster greater academic achievement among Liberian students, but also contribute to the reduction of student boycotts and riots. "The academic milieu should be structured so that it meets the students at their point of need," he added.
Speaking further, Mr. Mwagbe, a former Vice President of the Liberian Association of Metropolitan Atlanta, USA, contended that Liberian higher education should not only prepare students globally, but also it should be sensitive to the needs of post-war society, noting "in most western societies, college education is geared towards producing graduates who can serve the manpower and developmental needs of their countries, and Liberia should be no exception."
He also argued that there is need for higher education in Liberia to reflect recent trends in student development theory and the global movement from a hierarchical-styled education to learner-centered education.
Asked to clarify the difference between the two styles of higher education, Prof. Mwagbe summed his response in a rhetorical question: "As educators, our primary clients are the students. Schools and universities will cease to exist if there were no students; so why don't we work to satisfy the needs of the students within the context of our changing socio-economic realities?"
Responding to a question as to how he could help with the hosting of such a conference, Prof. Mwagbe said he intends to meet Michael Slawon, head of the Liberian Higher Education Commission, and Dr. Saaim Naame, Secretary General of the Association of Liberian Colleges to share notes on the issue.
Additionally, Mwagbe, who is a tenure-track professor at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia, disclosed that he intends to solicit the support of the Institute of Global Initiatives at his home institution, the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Institute of Technology and the Institute of Developing Nations at Emory University, once he completes preliminary discussions with local authorities.
He disclosed that he expects a consignment of books and a vehicle that will be donated to Cuttington University and the Hope Mission on the Gbarnga-Ganta highway respectively.
It may be recalled that a little over a year ago, Mr. Mwagbe visited Liberia in a bid to establish a bilateral agreement between Kennesaw State University in Georgia, USA and Cuttington University, his alma mater.
During that visit, Mwagbe said he called for the adoption of distance learning in Liberian higher education.
He is currently in the country as a result of the bilateral relationship he helped to establish between Cuttington and Kennesaw. During his current visit, which ends in May, he intends to establish a Study Abroad Program which would provide the opportunity for Cuttington students and faculty to study at Kennesaw in Georgia.
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Kennesaw State University is the third largest University within the Georgia University System. Considered Georgia's "truly international university," Kennesaw has a student population of 25,000 and boasts of two Liberian professors, Prof. Mwagbe in the English Department and Dr. William Allen of the History Department.
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