Monrovia — The Early Childhood Education Conference organized by the Liberian Diaspora Education Fund (LDEF), opened Thursday, June 8, at the African Methodist Episcopal University (AMEU) on Camp Johnson Road in central Monrovia. This conference brought together top stakeholders in the country's early childhood education sector. Presentations and speeches on ongoing efforts aimed at improving Liberia's early childhood education outcomes were delivered.
Stakeholders comprising of representatives from the Ministry of Education, University of Liberia, United States Agency for International Development(USAID), Kids Educational Engagement Project(KEEP), students and representatives of the University of Liberia and African Methodist Episcopal University engaged in conversation about new activities, methods and programs aimed at improving Liberia's early childhood education sector, including teacher education.
Attempts at improving the country's post-war education system, especially early childhood education, continue to gain both national and donor partners' support. This is evidenced by the Liberian Diaspora Education Fund (LDEF) Early Childhood Education Conference, which aimed to improve the sector and ensure movement towards desired outcomes for Liberia's youngest learners. Participants identified a series of gaps plaguing the sector including poor student reading outcomes, lack of quality teacher training and learning materials, poor oral communication and writing skills, as well as a lack of student confidence, and conducive learning spaces.
Speaking at the formal opening of the 3-day conference, Deputy Minister of Education for Instruction at Liberia's Ministry of Education, Mr. Alexander Duopu called for partnership and collaboration to improve Liberia's childhood education performance and ensure improved results are achieved. Min. Duopu said the Ministry continues to value inter-sectorial collaboration with other ministries and government's partners. These collaborations will support the development of integrated services that are required to sustain early childhood education. However, the Deputy Education Minister also noted that improving early childhood education requires special teachers with passion and not just people with master's degrees, doctoral degrees and or higher education.
"We want to give our children the best education and first impression matters because the teachers they meet first in class, play key roles in determining whether school is good for them or not," he said. According to the Deputy Minister, when they assumed leadership at the Ministry few years ago, they realized early childhood education is a priority as these years are delicate and requires people who are prepared and ready to avail themselves to teach.
The President of AMEU, Rev. Alvin E. Attah, said early childhood education remains the bedrock for growth in Liberia and as such should be given serious attention and ensure transformation. "Sometimes, it is sickening when reading through the theses of graduating students and you see that what they wrote is something that you can't even read. Sometimes, they can't read what they wrote themselves; this is all because of faulty foundation," Rev. Attah stated.
Based on the weak foundation observed across the country, the AMEU president said the university is poised to open an early childhood education institution beginning next year as a way of investing and helping to transform the poor system. "If we don't get engaged into this along with multiple institutions, 20 years from now the products that will be coming out of the education system will not be people to discuss or talk about," he predicted.
Attah lauded Dr. Kulah and others who travelled with her from the US for the conference and called on her to work with different stakeholders with passion for the sector. He stated that when this is done, the expected results will be achieved.
The Curriculum Coordinator of the Liberian Diaspora Education Fund, Ms. Korbalagae Kuawogai said the early childhood conference is aimed at giving back to Liberia as improving early childhood education is a way of improving a whole society. Ms. Kuawogai further stated that the conference was intended to bring officials, school administrators and other educational stakeholders together to identify early childhood education priority areas and to design programs to execute aligned to those priority areas.
The Kids Educational Engagement Project (KEEP) established 2014 by its Executive Director, Ms. Brenda M. B. Moore, called for 'intentional efforts' to improve early childhood education in Liberia. She expressed her aim to establish a culture of reading and has used the establishment of reading rooms across the country is a strategy to achieve this goal.
"We need teachers who are qualified; if the teachers are not competent, it will be garbage-in-garbage-out. Therefore, the foundation of kids has to be strengthened." Ms. Moore said.
Dr. Kulah, LDEF CEO, said improving early childhood education in Liberia requires teaching the teachers to teach early childhood properly and ensuring that they learn developmentally appropriate techniques in teaching kids. She further stressed that preschool teachers should not be sitting at the desks rather they should be moving around in the classroom interacting with their students and ensuring that the kids, too, interact with their colleagues.
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Dr. Kulah emphasized that educating the leaders or stakeholders on early childhood education is essential to improving the sector. She also called for localized materials to be used to teach the students essential reading skills. "We want to see phonics being taught the right way in every classroom. We want to see technology into early childhood education and hand on learning because the materials are available to educate or teach the students," Dr. Kulah, with over 30 years of early childhood education in the United States, added.
She further emphasized that to improve early childhood education all stakeholders need to come together as a unit, adding: "Why we need to improve early childhood education and how to do it are essential. I hope to see teachers excited about allowing early childhood education plans to strive and taking them to the class."
Dr. Augurie Stevens, Coordinator of Teachers' Professional Development at LDEF said the conference was organized to enhance what is on the ground in Liberia. Dr. Stevens, who is also the VP for Academic Support Services at AMEU, disclosed that today's children are "changing" and are more active and assertive in their learning. "We don't want that these days. We don't want the children to be afraid of their teachers but they can come to them and be able to discuss things with them."
