Following a 14 year Civil war in Liberia many teachers were either killed or fled the country. The Liberian Government and churches is now beginning to rebuild the countries education system but it is a hard and slow process with little resources and few trained teachers. This is a great opportunity to build Christian education.
The aim of the project is that principals and teachers will learn to walk more closely with God in their role in Christian Education. They will develop a clear understanding of what it is to be godly and professional and to enable students to receive an excellent Christian education.
This will entail strengthening the curriculum, training teachers, improving the learning and achievement of students and developing the leadership and management of their schools.
Each school will be visited to evaluate specific school based needs and design and deliver training. By working alongside experienced principals and teachers, The training of future trainers will be ensured so that the project will be sustained in the future.
However, there are big challenges. There is little money to pay the teachers, and most have only a high school qualification themselves. There are few resources in the schools, and those that exist are not always appropriate. Most of the schools do not have their own buildings, but are meeting in the church, which they divide into classes with rush matting.
Overcrowding is an issue. Parents pay a small fee for their children to attend, and children are expected to pay for their own copy books and pens. Not all can afford this, because many families, especially in the country areas, are still in survival mode following the war.
