2023 Bridge Liberia Media Mentions

2023

9/22/2023

Bridge Liberia’s Technical Partner Explores Outcomes To Increase Quality Of Education In Partnership With Devex at 78th UNGA

NewGlobe, the technical partner of Bridge Liberia, is stepping up its efforts to transform education by cohosting an event on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly that would explore outcomes to help increase the quality of education in low- and middle-income countries. The event, co-hosted in partnership with Devex, will also shine a light on what is needed to equip everyone from teachers to education ministries with the data tools needed to drive improved learning outcomes for all. The event takes place on September 20, 2023 in New York.

This event is being held in the aftermath of a groundbreaking study led by Nobel Prize-winning economist Professor Michael Kremer that found stunning gains in the standardized instruction model used by NewGlobe to underpin better learning results.

The study shows that Proffessor Kremer and his team interacted with 10,000 students for two years in schools supported by NewGloble in Kenya and found that attending NewGlobe schools doubled student learning so that students gained nearly two years of learning in the course of a single school year. The jump was even more significant in early childhood and for students from lower-income families.

The randomized design means that the students who had the opportunity to attend NewGlobe schools were otherwise a peer-to-peer comparison with those who did not. And some of the results were pretty remarkable.

While the World Bank reports that 90 percent of 10year-olds in Sub-Saharan Africa can’t read, for instance, the researchers found that 82 percent of NewGlobe students in grade 1 were able to read a sentence. The comparative figure for the control group was 27 percent.

NewGlobe works across Africa and Asia, supporting visionary governments to improve education for the young generation with a similar teaching model across its programs.

The NewGlobe model empowers teachers through capacity building and the provision of learning materials including technology to enable them deliver world class lessons to students even in the most remote communities in Africa and Asia.

In Liberia, a government school teacher supported by Bridge Liberia is well trained in teaching principles, techniques and technological skills that a contemporary teacher needs for effective delivery of learning materials in the classroom.

Given the high level of educational poverty in low and middle income countries with statistics showing about more than half of children in sub-Saharan Africa are unable to read and understand a story by the end of primary school, there is a need for an ambitious transformation of the education sector, which is still recovering from the impact of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With an eye on having a shot at achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Goal 4 on inclusive and equitable quality education for all by 2030, experts say go-getting learning recovery and acceleration are pivotal in spite of the desire to return to pre COVID-19 status quo.

9/21/2023

Bridge Liberia Launches Back To School Campaign, Encourages Parents To Send Their Children To School

Every academic year, Bridge Liberia, the Liberian government’s largest partner in the Liberia Education Advancement Program (LEAP), supports the government through its back to school campaign to retain students and boost enrollment in government schools across the country.

Parents and guardians are encouraged to ensure their children return to school following the holidays and enroll all school going children in their household at various government schools across the country.

Government schools under the Liberia Education Advancement Program (LEAP) of which Bridge Liberia is the largest technical partner are 100 percent tuition free.

The LEAP program was designed in 2016 to improve school management and accountability, enhance teachers’ and school administrators’ abilities to deliver quality learning outcomes, and optimize delivery models that the Ministry of Education can apply throughout all of Liberia’s public schools.

Bridge Liberia supports over 300 government schools in all of Liberia’s 14 counties, including communities in the remotest parts of the country.

Teachers at these schools are well trained in teaching principles, techniques and technological skills that a contemporary teacher needs for effective delivery of learning materials in the classroom.

According to a Learning in Liberia study eighty-one per cent of students who joined a Bridge Liberia supported school in the first grade and have now spent 2 1⁄2 years

in a Bridge Liberia supported classroom are proficient or basic readers; compared to only 33% of students in traditional public schools.

Teachers are trained to give girls similar priority in learning as boys by ensuring girls are called on as boys in the classroom through a teaching technique known as cold calling.

This method has proven to be effective, thereby supporting girls to make the same leap in learning as boys evident in a recent groundbreaking study conducted by Nobel Prize winner Prof. Michael Kremer who measured learning gains in schools supported by NewGlobe in Kenya.

NewGlobe, is Bridge Liberia technical partner, supporting over 1 million children in Liberia, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Asia.

Liberia is among countries in the sub-region that are still faced with the challenge of children being used as breadwinners even during school hours.

According to reports in 2006, over 15,000 Liberia children were in the streets performing different forms of child labor, from street hawking to bus conductors among others.

Parents and guardians in poor communities are encouraged to use education to change their communities and this can be done by sending their children to school.

The Ministry of education released a circular earlier this month with September 4, as the date for the opening of schools for the 2023/2024 academic year.

9/1/2023

Bridge Liberia Teacher, Lucia Goffa Wins Best Teacher Award

Lucia Goffah who was recently awarded as the best teacher in Maryland County has commended the management of Bridge Liberia for their continued support towards educational activities in Maryland County and across the country.

One specific skill is the use of technology. All teachers in the Bridge Liberia program use technology as a teaching tool which is used for lesson planning, tracking of attendance, and delivery of daily lessons among other features.

Teacher Goffa, a grade one teacher at the Harper Demonstration School in Maryland County, a Bridge Liberia supported school, was awarded as best teacher in Maryland County by the government through the Ministry of Education on August 24, 2023 at the official celebration of the National Flag Day.

“Actually, I want to thank Bridge-Liberia because my daily usage of the teacher tablet and the training I got during induction about how to interact with my students, I believe gave me an advantage over other teachers who do not have such skill.”

This is the second edition of the award organized by the Ministry of Education to recognize and celebrate teachers across the country.

Speaking during an engagement with the management of Bridge Liberia, Miss Goffa attributed the winning of the award to the support she and her school receives from Bridge Liberia.

She disclosed that the technical support through training and provision of instructional materials by Bridge Liberia to her school contributed to her skill and capacity which were useful during her application for the award.

Teachers at government schools under the LEAP Program, that are supported by Bridge Liberia, are well trained in teaching principles, techniques and technological skills that a contemporary teacher needs for effective delivery of learning materials in the classroom.

Bridge Liberia is supporting over 300 government primary schools across the country under the Liberia Education Advancement Program.

The LEAP Program is a multi partnership education program that delivers 100% tuition-free education from early childhood through grade nine across Liberia.

8/30/2023

Bridge Liberia Launches Back To School Campaign, Encourages Parents To Send Their Children To School

Every academic year, Bridge Liberia, the Liberian government’s largest partner in the Liberia Education Advancement Program (LEAP), supports the government through its back to school campaign to retain students and boost enrollment in government schools across the country.

Parents and guardians are encouraged to ensure their children return to school following the holidays and enroll all school going children in their household at various government schools across the country.

Government schools under the Liberia Education Advancement Program (LEAP) of which Bridge Liberia is the largest technical partner are 100 percent tuition free.

The LEAP program was designed in 2016 to improve school management and accountability, enhance teachers’ and school administrators’ abilities to deliver quality learning outcomes, and optimize delivery models that the Ministry of Education can apply throughout all of Liberia’s public schools.

Bridge Liberia supports over 300 government schools in all of Liberia’s 14 counties, including communities in the remotest parts of the country.

Teachers at these schools are well trained in teaching principles, techniques and technological skills that a contemporary teacher needs for effective delivery of learning materials in the classroom.

According to a Learning in Liberia study eighty-one per cent of students who joined a Bridge Liberia supported school in the first grade and have now spent 2 1⁄2 years

in a Bridge Liberia supported classroom are proficient or basic readers; compared to only 33% of students in traditional public schools.

Teachers are trained to give girls similar priority in learning as boys by ensuring girls are called on as boys in the classroom through a teaching technique known as cold calling.

This method has proven to be effective, thereby supporting girls to make the same leap in learning as boys evident in a recent groundbreaking study conducted by Nobel Prize winner Prof. Michael Kremer who measured learning gains in schools supported by NewGlobe in Kenya.

NewGlobe, is Bridge Liberia technical partner, supporting over 1 million children in Liberia, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Asia.

Liberia is among countries in the sub-region that are still faced with the challenge of children being used as breadwinners even during school hours.

According to reports in 2006, over 15,000 Liberia children were in the streets performing different forms of child labor, from street hawking to bus conductors among others.

Parents and guardians in poor communities are encouraged to use education to change their communities and this can be done by sending their children to school.

The Ministry of education released a circular earlier this month with September 4, as the date for the opening of schools for the 2023/2024 academic year.

8/29/2023

Government Education Partner Bridge Liberia, Encourages Parents To Send Their Children To School

Every academic year, Bridge Liberia, the Liberian government’s largest partner in the Liberia Education Advancement Program (LEAP), supports the government through its back to school campaign to retain students and boost enrollment in government schools across the country.

Parents and guardians are encouraged to ensure their children return to school following the holidays and enroll all school going children in their household at various government schools across the country.

Government schools under the Liberia Education Advancement Program (LEAP) of which Bridge Liberia is the largest technical partner are 100 percent tuition free.

According to a Learning in Liberia study eighty-one per cent of students who joined a Bridge Liberia supported school in the first grade and have now spent 2 1⁄2 years in a Bridge Liberia supported classroom are proficient or basic readers; compared to only 33% of students in traditional public schools.

Teachers are trained to give girls similar priority in learning as boys by ensuring girls are called on as boys in the classroom through a teaching technique known as cold calling.

This method has proven to be effective, thereby supporting girls to make the same leap in learning as boys evident in a recent groundbreaking study conducted by Nobel Prize winner Prof. Michael Kremer who measured learning gains in schools supported by NewGlobe in Kenya.

NewGlobe, is Bridge Liberia technical partner, supporting over 1 million children in Liberia, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Asia.

The LEAP program was designed in 2016 to improve school management and accountability, enhance teachers’ and school administrators’ abilities to deliver quality learning outcomes, and optimize delivery models that the Ministry of Education can apply throughout all of Liberia’s public schools.

Liberia is among countries in the sub-region that are still faced with the challenge of children being used as breadwinners even during school hours.

According to reports in 2006, over 15,000 Liberia children were in the streets performing different forms of child labor, from street hawking to bus conductors among others.

Bridge Liberia supports over 300 government schools in all of Liberia’s 14 counties, including communities in the remotest parts of the country.

Teachers at these schools are well trained in teaching principles, techniques and technological skills that a contemporary teacher needs for effective delivery of learning materials in the classroom.

Parents and guardians in poor communities are encouraged to use education to change their communities and this can be done by sending their children to school.

The Ministry of education released a circular earlier this month with September 4, as the date for the opening of schools for the 2023/2024 academic year.

Link to the complete article

20/06/2023

West Africa: Bridge Liberia, ECOWAS and UNICEF Jointly Commemorate the Day of the African Child On June 16 2023, Liberian Children joined their counterparts on the continent to commemorate the 32nd anniversary of the Day of the African Child.

The day is celebrated every year to honor children who participated in the Soweto Uprising on June 16 1976. The day that was first initiated by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) is also used to raise awareness on the need for better education for African children.

This is the second year Bridge Liberia is partnering with ECOWAS and UNICEF to bring together some of Liberia's young and creative minds to participate in activities meant to commemorate the Day of the African Child.

Under the theme "The rights of the child in the digital environment," over 50 students from selected schools including Bridge Liberia supported schools discussed the topic with policy makers and education stakeholders. The students quizzed various stakeholders about how children in Liberia can be protected from harmful online content while at the same time benefit from the digital revolution that is ongoing globally.

Assistant Education Minister for Basic and Secondary Education Hon. Felicia Doe Somah, European Union Deputy Head of Delegation Anders Arvidsson, Cllr. Evett Chesson Wreh and Bridge Liberia Managing Director were some of the stakeholders interviewed by the students.

In line with the digital theme, Bridge Liberia Managing Director, Gbovadeh Gbilia, was excited to point out the workings of his organization, explaining how teachers and students at Bridge Liberia supported schools are benefiting from the organization's digital model of education.

He stated the need to digitize education for all schools, as this is important for not just data collection for the sector, but this would also help to ensure accountability in the classroom.

Bridge Liberia provides teaching tablets and smart phones to all teachers and principals at the over 300 schools the social enterprise is supporting under the LEAP Program. The teachers tablet, a technology pioneered by Bridge International Academics, is loaded with detailed lesson plans and instructions for teachers to deliver to students daily.

The tablets also feed data back to supervisors to track the teacher's activity and attendance and ensure they are sticking to the lesson plans.

This technology is transforming education in so many different ways. From changing how students learn, to empowering teachers and other school leaders at every stage of their journey to deliver lessons in a timely, coherent and guided manner.

The current state of learning in Africa is faced with many challenges as the opportunities are few compared to those of the west. Africa has a particular challenge, as a UNESCO study of foundational learning in Africa spells out.

"Children in Africa are seven times less likely than children in the rest of the world to be prepared for the future in reading and five times less likely to be prepared for the future in mathematics."

Some of these key thematic areas identified at the recent Transforming Education Summit include digital learning, which is already at the core of the approach used by Bridge Liberia and its technical partner NewGlobe in transforming education.

Link to the complete article

16/06/2023

International Day of the African Child: Empowering our leaders of tomorrow

“The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow.”

Spoken by Nelson Mandela, these words ring true, eluding time and geopolitical context. For Africa, they resonate today more than ever before – because of our historic boom in the population of young people.

A cross section of students supported by Bridge Liberia under the LEAP Program This International Day of the African Child, June 16, is arguably the most significant on record.

2023 is set to be the year when Sub-Saharan Africa leads the world as the region with the most young people (0-14) – the size and acceleration of this age cohort are historically unprecedented.

But what does this shift really mean for Africa and the World? The answer to this question will depend on the action or inaction of leaders – to embrace an immense opportunity or let it slip by.

Investing in education is investing in the future, and with Sub-Saharan Africa certainly not lacking potential with its rapidly growing population of young people, prioritizing fruitful education systems is essential.

Unfortunately this can be difficult, and as always barriers get in the way.

It is these education challenges that contribute to Learning Poverty – defined as the percentage of 10-year-olds unable to read a simple sentence – in Sub-Saharan Africa the rate of Learning Poverty is 90%.

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are at about the halfway point, the fourth goal, aiming to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all,” is clearly being missed in many Sub-Saharan African countries, despite considerable investment – highlighting the need for solutions that deliver outcomes.

World Bank data showing population growth of young people (0-14) throughout the world On the continent there are some leading examples of education programs that go against the trend and transform learning outcomes. The [Bridge Liberia, RwandaEQUIP, EKOEXCEL, EdoBEST, BayelsaPRIME] programs are delivering a vision and way forward for pupils to learn in a meaningful way.

Link to the complete article

16/06/2023

Supported by NewGlobe as a technical partner, the program is successfully building holistic education systems through data-driven pedagogy, innovative learning technologies, and powerful school administration systems.

In 5-10 years Africa will provide about half of the world’s increase in the working-age population – investing in future generations’ learning will determine the skill set of these world shaping young people.

With the population of Sub-Saharan Africa skyrocketing, so does the demand for essential services like healthcare, infrastructure, and all the elements that create and maintain a prosperous society. Education is the foundation of these services, and will provide a pathway for Africa’s young people to seize career opportunities.

With more and more pupils to educate, it is incumbent on leaders and education stakeholders to strengthen the bedrock that is learning.

Approximately 27,000 people are born every day in Sub-Saharan Africa, and every new young person’s learning will be reliant on an education system’s ability to adapt. Considering this huge influx of new students into education systems every year, passive solutions will not cut it – governments need bold education transformation at speed and scale.

The World Bank highlights that many current education systems are at capacity, and the demand will increase with nearly 750 million African children expected to be of school age by 2060.

On an economic level, the potential of embracing Africa’s youth population increase through education is clear.

The Liberian Government’s, Liberia Education Advancement Program (LEAP) is meeting this challenge.

The World Bank estimates that one extra year of education correlates with 10% higher household income, and one extra year on average for a country translates overall to 2.5% higher GDP per capita.

The program, launched in 2016,is a multipartnership educational model that delivers 100% tuition free primary education throughout Liberia from Early Childhood through grade 9.

Additionally, a study co-authored by the Yidan Prize winner Professor Eric Hanushek estimates the value of ensuring all students achieve global basic-level skills. In Sub-Saharan Africa 94% of youth do not reach basic skill levels, heavily contributing to global levels, which have been estimated at present value to equate to a lost world economic output of more than $700 trillion over the remaining century – highlighting the alarming opportunity cost of not investing in African human capital.

Civil societal and social cohesion also heavily rest on education.

When a young person lacks confidence in their education system and is unable to embrace learning, they are put at risk. Young people with poor education outcomes tend to have less economic prospects, locking them in a vulnerable position, and increasing their risk of becoming victims of vice, such as human trafficking – something many African governments battle with.

Bridge Liberia is the largest technical partner in the LEAP Program.

Currently, Bridge Liberia supports over 300 public primary schools, where 75,000 students are enrolled with over 1,500 trained teachers by Bridge Liberia and the Liberia Government.

Liberia’s House of Representative Chair on educationa, Hon. Mariamu Fofana stated in an interview how the impact of the program has grown, providing opportunities for girls to match boys in schools “I am very pleased based on my own interaction with Bridge Liberia and the schools they are managing in Liberia. Their model of teaching is really helping our children. The fact that the approach puts girls on the same path with boys makes me happy. Indeed when you give a girl equal opportunity as the boy, she would learn equally, if not more. And I am highly pleased that there is research that shows that indeed this system that is used in other countries is the same used at our schools supported by Bridge.”

Link to the complete article

16/06/2023

Africa’s greatest asset is its young people. Their potential is exciting and unprecedented, and this International Day of the African Child we must empower potential by finally providing an education that achieves learning. Then the children of Africa will be able to deliver success not just for themselves, not just for Africa, but for the whole world.

Link to the complete article

May 9, 2023

What Africa Can Teach The World About The Role Of Data In Education Transformation

The world’s largest gathering of national education leaders is taking place in London this week. Ministers from around the world are gathered just a stone’s throw from the site of King Charles’ coronation in Westminster, at the Education World Forum (EWF). Representing Liberia is Prof. D. Ansu Sonii, Liberia’s Minister of Education. But there will be no pageantry. This global ministerial gathering has the sober task of debating the future of education.

Even in countries many might have assumed to have nailed down the workings of a successful education system, there are still problems. A recent New York Times article paints a rather harrowing picture drawing attention to the fact that “about one in three children in the United States cannot read at a basic level of comprehension”, a statistic that researchers say can be put down to the fact that many children are simply not being correctly taught.

Over the years, EWF has developed a reputation as a place where learning leaders from around the world can talk openly and honestly with their peers and industry partners, sharing ideas and experiences about what is working in education development – and what is not.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the World Bank estimates 90% of 10-year-olds are unable to read a simple sentence with understanding – even though four out of five primary age children go to school.

And it is clear that these conversations need to be held.

World Bank Education Director, Jaime Saavedra, calls the current state of global learning “the most serious crisis in education in 100 years.” In addition, UNESCO estimates that more than half of children and adolescents around the world are not learning, failing to meet minimum proficiency standards in reading and mathematics.

But there are visionary governments tackling the challenge of such learning poverty. And many of them can be found here in Africa.

NewGlobe – which is a partner of EWF- supports national and regional African governments to overcome infrastructural and resource challenges to achieve exceptional learning gains for their children.

In Liberia, NewGlobe is also the technical Partner of Bridge Liberia, the Liberian Government’s

Largest Partner in the Liberian Education Advancement Program (LEAP).

One of the many conversations at this year’s EWF is centred around how education stakeholders can measure skills, knowledge, understanding etc of schools and teachers as well.

As UNESCO points out: “A common obstacle preventing the alignment of a vision with a realistic target is the lack of regularly collected data of good quality on learning outcomes”.

But collecting data is only the start towards transforming learning outcomes. The data must be accessible, easy to interpret, and solution oriented.

Recognizing this need for relevant data to make informed decisions about education, NewGlobe through Bridge Liberia has been working with the Liberian Government to create immersive visual education data experiences to help bring clarity to decision making.

Each teacher in every school supported by Bridge Liberia is equipped with a handheld teacher tablet, loaded with expertly constructed lesson guides based on the Liberian National Curriculum. Each one leverages effective techniques that have been tried, tested and refined for the greatest impact on learning. But as well as supporting each and every teacher, their tablets also deliver a treasure trove of data, including teacher and student attendance, lesson completion and test results.

Suddenly, education leaders can see what is happening in every classroom in every school – virtually in real time.

Behind such African success lies clear academic evidence.

An independent study led by 2019 Nobel Prize winning economist Professor Michael Kremer investigated the methods that underpin every government program supported by NewGlobe, and found learning gains among the “largest ever measured in international education”.

Results from the study of NewGlobe-supported schools in Kenya found primary students gain almost an additional year of learning, learning in two years what students in non-NewGlobe supported schools learn in nearly three. Early childhood development students had even greater outcomes, gaining almost an additional year and half of learning in two years.

The very same methods are the backbone of Bridge Liberia, the mainstay of the Liberian Government’s LEAP education improvement program and another African success supported

by NewGlobe. Bridge Liberia students gain 2.5 years of additional learning after 3 years with Bridge Liberia, and 81% of Bridge Liberia students are proficient or basic readers, vs. only 33% of students in traditional public schools.

The African programs supported by NewGlobe, underpinned by real-time data gathering, consistently demonstrate substantial learning gains through evidence-based improvements. If these kinds of results could be replicated at scale across public systems, students across the globe could see huge learning gains, pushing countries up education league tables to match those with incomes three or four times greater per person, and further strengthening countries with robust systems.

Over the coming days, national education leaders will debate and discuss the solutions to the global learning crisis. Data empowers leaders, informing them what is working well, and where improvements must still be made. And, Africa is demonstrating to the world what data-driven education transformation can achieve.

Link to the complete article

April 24, 2023

Bridge Liberia donates books to Gamata Primary School to commemorate World Book Day

Ounzuba Kemeh-Gama~ sponsor of Gamata Public School pictured with Bridge Liberia M.D.Gbovadeh Gbilia Another year to celebrate great minds who have contributed to learning by their writings while celebrating reading.

Each year on World Book and Copy Rights Day, a day set aside by the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), education stakeholders promote the reading culture while advocating for more to be done to avail reading materials to students in the classrooms especially in underprivileged communities.

This year, Bridge Liberia, the Liberian Government’s largest technical partner in the LEAP Program continues to donate books and learning materials.

This year, the Gamata Public School in Zorzor, in Lofa County stands as a benefactor to this initiative on World Book Day. Bridge Liberia Managing Director Gbovadeh Gbilia on behalf of the organization presented a consignment of assorted reading materials to the school’s sponsor Ounzuba Kemeh-Gama.

Such intervention by Bridge Liberia will not only uplift teachers’ ability to properly nurture students, but will also give students access to academic books that they can use for various education purposes including reading, which will help them get on a learning path with other students around the world.

Since UNESCO issued a study in 2017 UNESCO 2017 Study disclosing that most children are not able to read well, due to several factors including the availability of books, education stakeholders like Bridge Liberia decided to turn things around for children, especially those in underprivileged communities.

As part of Bridge Liberia’s technical support to the over 300 Government schools under the LEAP Program, the organization prides itself with the provision of learning materials including books to all its supported schools.

The impact of such intervention is noted in the Learning in Liberia Report, which showed that students at Bridge Liberia supported schools could read 7 more words per minute and answer 6% more questions correctly about the story they just read. The Center for Global Development

also found that Bridge Liberia supported students had reading gains equivalent to a whole additional year of schooling, when compared to other government schools, according to a randomized control trial conducted by the organization.

Ounzuba Kemeh-Gama, sponsor of the Gamata Public School in Zorzor who received the consignment of assorted books thanked the organization for its deliberate efforts to make a change in the education sector of the country.

Link to the complete article

April 3, 2023

Bridge Liberia donates books to Gamata Primary School to commemorate World Book Day

Bridge Liberia MD-Gbovadeh Gbilia presenting at the JSER Education stakeholders gathered in Ganta City Nimba County on March 27 to March 31 for the Joint Education Sector Review (JESR).

“Transforming Education, for National Development and Growth,” is the theme for this year’s JESR with the overall objectives of transforming education to achieve national development and growth and achieving milestones in the social contract through the provision of quality, relevant, inclusive and gender-responsive education.

The JESR brings education stakeholders together to discuss challenges and opportunities of the Liberian education sector, while appraising the Sector’s annual performance to find corresponding ways forward for the period under review.

The Education Sector Plan (ESP) is high on the agenda at this year’s JESR, a five year document, prepared by the Ministry of Education and partners, which outlines the country’s vision and concrete transformative actions to further drive progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and better prepare learners

for the challenges of the future.

Following the official opening by Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor on the first day, the meeting continued with presentations from various sectoral units, organizations and programs, giving the statuses of their various sections and highlighting their contributions to the development of education in Liberia.

Among those who presented was the Liberia Education Advancement Program (LEAP) a key education program supporting government schools in a multi-partnership educational model that among other indicators delivers 100 percent tuition free primary education throughout Liberia from early childhood education to grade nine.

Bridge Liberia Managing Director, Gbovadeh Gbilia, gave the status of the LEAP program, on behalf of the four partners; Rising Academy, UMovement, Street Child and Bridge Liberia. Gbilia laid emphasis on the key indicators that the LEAP program is addressing for the sector. Learning outcome, tuition free schooling, capacity building of teachers, are few of the key indicators set for the LEAP Program and partners are reaching the benchmark, ensuring students benefit and gain knowledge to change their future.

Assistant Education Minister for Planning,

Assistant Education Minister for Planning, Research and Development, Hon. Dominic Kweme in an interview also explained how the LEAP program is supporting the education sector.

“The approach of the LEAP program is very unique to the Liberian education sector and it’s addressing lots of key indicators that are set for the sector. From the different assessment done by independent partners of the LEAP program and the International Institute of Education comparing the LEAP program result to other public schools has shown a clear difference of the level of learning outcomes specific to LEAP students and that of the traditional government public school system”.

The JSER is an annual event that allows stakeholders in the education community to gather and set the tone for the incoming education year.

Link to the complete article

April 7, 2023

Bridge Liberia Partners with National Government To Commemorate International Women’s Day

MONROVIA – Scores of Liberia women and men on March 3, 2023, commemorated International Women’s Day, a day set aside by the United Nations to celebrate women’s achievements and raise awareness about gender inequality and increase support for women globally.

The teacher tablets are loaded with detailed lesson plans and instructions for teachers to deliver to students daily while feeding back to school supervisors to track the teacher’s activity and attendance and ensure they are sticking to the lesson plans.

Even though an early celebration before the recognized March 8, women from diverse backgrounds gathered to pay homage to Liberian Women that are breaking the glass ceiling and also to men supporting them.

Teaching, which is considered one of the most important professions in the world, comes with so many challenges, especially for women teachers, who are caught between family caregiving and their profession.

This year’s International Women’s Day is celebrated under the global theme: “DigitAAL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality” with a local theme, “Innovating with Technology to promote Gender Equality” a theme that sits right within the Bridge Liberia’s teaching model, ensuring teachers use technology in the classroom as a teaching tool.

Kweabe A. Tobgah a teacher from Dwazon Public School explains how she now has more time to take care of her children and run other errands to help her family.

This model of teaching and learning by the Liberian Government’s technical partner Bridge Liberia, has made teaching easier and more interesting for women teachers who take on other responsibilities before and after school hours.

“Instead of sitting at home for long hours after school to plan lessons and do additional research, like I used to do before, with this teaching technology I now have more time to do a small business to support my family with additional income, because the lessons are already planned. We now focus on delivery and presentation.”

Christiana David from the Intouch Public School further revealed that the teaching technology has made her profession more interesting, because it is not only easier, it is also fun to be in the classroom.

This milestone achievement in the education sector has not only improved test scores and learning for students, but it is also contributing to the performance of women teachers in the classrooms at Bridge Liberia supported schools.

The Liberian Government in 2016, began a revolution to fix the country’s education system which was broken as the result of several years of conflict. One of those steps was the introduction of the Liberian Education Advancement Program (LEAP). The LEAP Program currently has four education providers with Bridge Liberia being the biggest technical partner in the program.

LEAP is delivering tuition-free primary education throughout Liberia from early childhood education through grade nine and improving learning gains for students in government schools Women teachers stand at 25% of the total teachers in government schools supported by Bridge Liberia.

These women indeed understand that technology is vital for gender equality and empowerment, which is why they appreciate the use of teaching technology in the classrooms.

Link to the complete article

Jan 24, 2023

Bridge Liberia Partners with National Government To Commemorate International Women’s Day

January 24 is the UN’s International Day of Education. The theme for 2023 is “Invest in people, prioritise education.”

UNESCO, the UN’s education arm, makes a compelling case for such investment: “Without inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, countries will not succeed in achieving gender equality and breaking the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind.”

Governments are already investing vast sums of money in education.Although the average for sub-Saharan Africa is lower at 3.4% – below the global average of 4.3% – international donors also contribute very large sums.

The Global Partnership for Education invests funds raised from donor countries such as the US and UK. In total, GPE has spent more than $5.7 billion of donor funding on education across subSaharan Africa.

But despite such levels of government and international spending, education outcomes are at crisis levels.

The World Bank’s most recent update estimates that 89% of

ten-year-olds in the region cannot read a simple sentence.

The Covid pandemic and associated school closures are not to blame. “Learning poverty was very high even before the pandemic,” says the Bank.

Nor is a lack of enrollment. 90% of primary age children attend school in low and middle income countries.

These grim statistics make clear that prioritizing education is not enough. What must be prioritized is learning.

Increasingly, visionary leaders across Africa are changing the way they spend money on education, by investing in outcomes – clear learning gains for their students and opening the sectors for more partnerships in education.

In Liberia, the Government has leveraged its flagship education Program; LEAP to improve learning gains for students in government schools as a means of addressing the country’s learning crisis.

LEAP, is the Liberia Education Advancement Program, an innovative education partnership that came into existence in 2016, currently supporting nearly 500 public schools across Liberia’s fifteen counties.

The multi-partnership educational model designed by the Liberian Government delivers 100% tuition-free primary education throughout Liberia from early childhood education through Grade 9.

Government’s largest technical partner in the LEAP Program; Bridge Liberia, ensures every teacher receives comprehensive instructional guidance for every lesson, based upon cutting edge pedagogical research with a technological approach.

The technology enables world-class quality lessons, specifically designed to maximize learning, to be delivered by all teachers.

It also provides real-time monitoring from every classroom in every school supported by Bridge Liberia.

Government education officers can track not only students’ performance, but a whole range of other crucial indicators that support learning gains.

This also helps to reduce absenteeism, truancies, and even teachers not coming, by remotely monitoring them and seeing who is teaching what and the quality of teaching across primary schools.

The results of all these interventions are excellent.

The teaching methods underpinning the Liberian Government’s technical education partner; Bridge Liberia and all other programs supported by NewGlobe have been independently studied in Kenya by a team led by Professor Michael Kremer, Nobel Prize winner for Economics in 2019.

It reported that students taught using the methods made some of the biggest learning gains ever found in such a study.

On International Day of Education, we should be clear that investment which drives-up learning and transforms outcomes for students must be our priority. We also need to understand that if it can be achieved, the gains across Africa and the whole world will be transformational too.