Academy for Educational Development

L to R: Dr. Christopher Ashford, AED/LTTP Chief of Party, Margaret Sancho-Morris, USAID Education Team Leader and LTTP CTO, President George Bush, and Sarah Smith, LTTP Operations Specialist.

While visiting Liberia in late February, President George W. Bush attended the “Partners in Education” event, which featured AED’s Liberia Teacher Training Project. He was joined by First Lady Laura Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

During her opening statements, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the president of Liberia, stressed that the investment the United States has made in her country’s education system is seeing returns. “We have been pleased that with the support of the United States government to our education rebuilding process, we can now say that we're beginning to see the signs of progress,” she said.

During the program, Aberdeen Gargili told the group of world leaders how his life changed as a result of the skills he gained through AED’s teacher-training program there. “Before...I did not have skills in student-centered learning approaches,” he said. “Today…I have gained this all-important skill. I have made the transition from being a teacher to being a trainer of teachers.”

The LTTP teacher-training project was designed to respond to Liberia’s critical shortage of teachers. AED is delivering training to teachers who are already in the classroom, working with school leaders to improve their management skills, and helping to define new policies and systems. In addition, the project is reforming curriculum, developing materials, and conducting trainings at the country’s College of Education and three teacher-training institutes in rural areas.

The program operates in six out of fifteen counties in Liberia, and the Ministry of Education plans to expand to the remaining counties by 2009, thus creating a national program.

During the event, the president stressed that the United States supports the work being done in Liberia to improve its education system. 

“This is the last event on the last stop of what has been a comprehensive trip around the continent of Africa, and it's fitting that we talk about education,” said President Bush. “The United States of America is with you, and we'll stay with you, because we want you to succeed.”

LTTP is funded by USAID. AED implements the project in partnership with the International Rescue Committee and the Mississippi Consortium for International Development.

For more information, please contact Christopher Ashford, LTTP Chief of Party at cashford@aed.org.