The Kids’ Educational Engagement Project (KEEP) has trained several teachers in reading strategies in the rural part of Liberia, with a plan for the next 12 months. The training exercise is in support of government’s efforts in promoting education.
KEEP believes that one critical area in improving the education sector is by improving the output of teachers in various schools. The initiative targets about 50 teachers in Rivercess County. The organization recently extended its training programs to rural Liberia, where it will conduct a series of training for teachers in reading strategies and will be utilizing the revised National Reading Curriculum.
At the beginning of training in Cestos City, River Cess County, Superintendent Bismark Karbiah called on the participants to take advantage of the training opportunity and apply what they have learned in the classrooms.
Supt. Karbiah said that the county has been consistently ranked very low on the educational ladder among other counties, and it is through efforts such as these that the situation can change.
KEEP’s Executive Director, Mrs. Brenda Brewer Moore, informed participants that often teachers attend workshops, but after absorbing all of the rich materials presented to improve their teaching skills, particularly reading, they would instead go back to the classrooms without applying the new techniques they learned from the workshop.
The training took place in two parts, with teachers being grouped into two, including those from Central C2 and Morweh, who were being trained in the second stage, while teachers from Educational Districts Central C1, Timbo and Yarnie, were being trained in the first stage, during three days in Cestos City.
The six-day training covered topics such as, “Understanding the National Curriculum, Lesson Planning, Preventing Behavioral Problems, Consonant Digraph and Blends, and Designing Teaching Aid/Effective Use of the Chalkboard.”
Amos D. Doe, Ministry of Education Master Trainers in Reading, who also served as a regional coordinator and facilitated the workshop, commended KEEP for taking such training opportunity to the county.
Mr. Doe said that the coming of KEEP is crucial, especially as the new national reading curriculum is a good start for River Cess County.
The National Reading Curriculum was recently revised and over the past few years, authorities of the Ministry of Education have been making efforts to not only clean up the system of ghost names, but also ensure that teachers are qualified and capable of imparting quality education to their students.
With this in mind, KEEP has for the past three years been conducting regular teacher training in Reading.
Meanwhile, this training cycle brings to 80 the number of teachers trained in Reading and teaching methods, with the first two held in Montserrado and Gbarpolu counties.
This one year rural training is made possible through the partnership of UNICEF Liberia and funding from the Indian Government.
