The Institute for Democratic Action & Development (IDAD) with funding from USAID-Liberia has conducted a one-day Education CSOs Coalition Stakeholders training at the Sparks Entertainment Center in Ganta City, Nimba County.
The essence of the stakeholders’ meeting in Nimba was to train education stakeholders to monitor the Ministry of Education Budget to help improve transparency and accountability in the Country. Education stakeholders’ knowledge was enhanced and strengthened to lead efforts in the monitoring of processes.
The Training, which was held on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, brought together key Educational Stakeholders including Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), a representative from the County Education Office, the District Education Officer in Bain-Gair Nimba County, the Head of Nimba County School Board and Representatives from the National Civil Society Council of Liberia and others on advocacy efforts on Parent Teacher Associations’ (PTA) Guidelines, Monitoring and Oversight interventions, monitoring and research/investigation into public schools registration fees, successes, next steps and key challenges geared towards the implementation of the 2011 Education Reform Act.
The Engagement brought together a total of 20 participants, and two presentations were made by Christopher K. Seeton, Sr. IDAD’s Corporate Communication Manager on the 2011 Education Reform, and MacArthur Marshall Integrity Watch Coordinator of CSA Project on Budget Advocacy.
The gathering significantly sharpened stakeholders’ knowledge to help in the monitoring processes of the Education Budget and further enlightened the understanding of participants of the Education Reform Act of 2011.
During the presentations, some stakeholders were astonished that sections including compulsory primary education for all children have not been enforced by the Ministry of Education.
Also, many stakeholders were concerned about the simplification of the laws and requested that copies of the laws be available to schools.
Making remarks during the training, Saye Kehzie, Chairman of Nimba County School Board thanked IDAD for the insightful meeting and for providing such a unique opportunity that has sharpened stakeholders’ knowledge to help monitor the Education Budget.
“I must admit that we never understood these issues. “I have learned a lot and as we return to our various schools, we pass this information over to our people”, added.
For his part, William S. Larrpeh, a representative from the PTA in Nimba County praised IDAD for organizing the meeting and expressed that he has learned a lot especially the functioning, effectiveness, and restructuring of the PTAs.
“PTA needs training. “The training will help us a lot to handle issues arising from schools and students. “I want you people to monitor the increment in the educational budget, please”, he mentioned.
Abel S. Legay, a proxy of the County Education Officer in Nimba County thanked IDAD for the golden opportunity that provided deep insight to monitor the Education Budget and understand some of the key provisions in the Education Reform Act of 2011.
“I will tell my boss about this education you have provided to us. It will help us greatly to address some challenges we are faced with in Nimba “, he noted.
