A respected academic, Prof Ansu Dao Sonii Sr. has visibly reversed the “mess” inherited by the Weah administration in the education sector. In this interview, he explains the strategies he deployed to correct the “mess”
What are your achievements and challenges so far since you were appointed by the President?
As we retrospect, from 2018 till date, the achievements and challenges are many. Every activity of man is fraught with achievements and challenges. It is how you overcome challenges that is the test of manhood.
The biggest challenge was that the former President, Madam Johnson-Sirleaf, in her anger, referred to the entire education, at that time, as “a mess”. A statement like that coming from the highest office, was a stigma and a dis incentive to our students. Our job, since appointed by President Weah, is to revive that stigma and categorization of the education sector, as “a mess”. How do we change that narrative was our first major challenge. Students, at that time when that statement, from the highest office was publicly pronounced, were stigmatized and de moralized along the path of education.
We then came up with a plan and embarked on a working visit to the entire country, to revamp the education sector, which eventually lead to the eradication of the stigma in the education sector.
Now, the education sector is no longer how it used to be under our watch.
We reviewed the curriculum. We had done significant teacher up-grading, at the Primary, Secondary, University and Teacher Training Institutes TTIs. We have done refresher programs for thousands of teachers at all levels. These have reflected in the quality of our teachers and students outputs in examinations. This is visible in the West Africa Examinations Council WAEC results from 2018 to date. The progression has been satisfactory. There have been a couple of courses which we had challenges, particularly the sciences. But we are paring that stage now.
Student grades and performance have greatly improved. So with the quality outputs of our teachers. We’ve fixed schools’ infrastructure nationwide. We’ve provided learning materials and textbooks to students in all the counties. These have scaled up the learning and skills acquision of our students. We are building 46 schools across the country, 28 are for senior secondary alone. This is a big achievement. We are also building model early childhood schools, with 18 early childhood schools for early foundation learning, to strengthen the educational base of our system.
Then, to out of school children, the bane of our society. We are placing emphasis on vocational training institutes. We have vocational training centers in many secondary schools for out of schools; particularly those graduated, but need skills acquision.. 7 of the 15 counties now have vocational facilities, that is ready for this academic year in September.
What we’ve done so far, is to open up a platform of employment for our teeming youths and even adults, by providing skills acquision to the self-employed and employer of labour. This is completely different from what obtained in the past. Either they get jobs for themselves, or creating skills and employment for other Liberians.
In relation to higher education, we have a Board of Commissioners, who is independent, but work with the Ministry of Education. They provide overnight facilities. This strengthens students who intend to pursue higher education. We undertake these activities in partnership with our foreign development partners. We have now revolutionized the educational sector from what it was in the past.
Teachers are the bedrock of any education sector. How has the Weah Government empowered teachers so far?
We have brought in 3,500 teachers on government regular payroll. We have trained up to 2,000 categories of teachers, with provision of scholarships to universities. This year alone, up to1,500 teachers were brought up to regular payroll and assigned to various secondary schools in the country. This may not be enough but it is a process to designated goals. We may not have reached our goal yet, but we are progressing toward that direction.
We have also introduced the Teachers’ Licensing infrastructures TLI. This is a consciously conceived policy, geared toward certifying teachers with certified licenses, for easy identification. We can now seize or revoke teacher’s licenses for misbehavior or other educational malpractices. A teacher cannot misbehave in one county and migrate into another county, to practice, without a valid license that can identify the teacher. We have minimized criminality in the teaching profession. The policy has been launched and it will commence next year. By 2030, every teacher in Liberia must be licensed.
In a word, we have professionalized and upgraded the teaching profession in the country. Teachers are now proud of the profession as it is now standardized according to international best practices.
What is the working relationship with other teaching institutions in West Africa?
We just did a tour to Ghana, Rwanda and Sierra Leone. We did a working tour to various teaching institutions, to understudy, recruitment, retention, compensation, welfare, retirement protocol and so forth. We are applying some of these strategies into our teacher’s management policies. We are yet to have teachers exchange programs. However, of late, we have made a request to the Nigerian Government for about 100 teachers for our secondary schools. We have gone far with that request, through the Foreign Affairs Ministry. It is now left for the names and qualifications of the teachers to be sent into Liberia. We also request the establishment of PhD programs in our university. We have not yet got firm recommendation, but for the secondary school, we’ve concluded to make a request to the Nigeria Government. It ought to have commenced, but due to Covid-19, ,it was suspended. It will now commence in September 2023. The Nigerian teachers will work with our Liberian teachers in our secondary schools, as we don’t have enough teachers in our schools.
What is the current state of the Nigerian Technical Aid Corps TAC program in Liberia, as reports indicate it has been suspended?
It has started. The TAC officers will be in our school next academic year in September. It could have started in 2019 if not for COVID. All formalities were in place, the list of teachers and qualifications were sent to us in 2019. It got suspended due to COVID. The Director of TAC sent in a delegation to me and we’ve agreed on the terms of engagement. It will commence in September, 2023.
As President Weah embarks on a 2nd term election in October, what, in your estimation, in the educational sector, qualifies him for a 2nd term victory?
The key indices that qualify President Weah is his concern for the struggling masses. That concern started from 2017. Being a people-centered person, he initiated payment of WAEC fees, both in public and private schools. This has been done since 2018 till date. This has really increased the number of students for the WAEC exams, particularly students from poor homes.
Another indices, in 2019, the President also considered the Public universities fees. Though the fees are low, there are many students who would still not afford the fees. So the President granted free tuition for all public universities and colleges. This has also increased enrollment significantly. This free tuition for students in public universities, with free WAEC exams fees, in my mind, deserve a second mandate, particularly when he thinks beyond those who have, down to those who don’t have, but want to have.
Besides the school construction and training in teachers, the one that relieves parents, is the free tuition to universities and colleges. When a president is thinking of the masses, for the need of the people, he deserves commendation.
Road construction is there, water and electricity supply have been relatively restored to many households, to go beyond all these, that all students in public universities are free of charge; it is now left for the students to choose.
Government universities have now increased. One in Grand Bassa, one in Nimba, one in Lofa, One in Grand Gida county. These all have been upgraded to college degree levels. These are in addition to the traditional University of Liberia and the Tubman University in Harbour, Maryland. All these strides by President Weah is to make education affordable and accessible to many Liberians, especially for those who cannot afford the means to pursue further education in the country.