PSL to LEAP, Government commits to the continuation of its flagship Education Public Private Partnership in Liberia
By: Marcus Wleh
Tags: Education, Success

Liberian schoolgirls celebrate.

Partnership Schools for Liberia (PSL) was a radical initiative designed to transform the future of Liberian children. It was bold and brave; an education flagship program led by Africans for Africa that could have exciting consequences for the rest of the Continent. When our new government took the helm, after a measured election process, President Weah committed to education, putting it at the heart of the Government’s agenda. In his State of the Nation Address at the start of the year he said: “The improvement of our education system is and shall remain a constant and major priority during my administration.”

Our President has indeed remained true to his promise and the Government has now formally announced that the program will transition into the Liberian Education Advancement Program (LEAP) retaining its ambitions of scale. Education Minister Ansu D. Sonii, Sr. noted: “the aim of building on the positive learning outcomes evidence thus far.” The Ministry of Education has said that the new program name better reflects its objectives: to improve learning outcomes for Liberian children and advance the life prospects of the next generation.

There is palpable excitement in the Liberian education sector — and amongst operators — that the Government has committed to continuation and transition of the public private partnership, now entering its third year. We’re especially proud that Bridge will continue to operate the majority of LEAP schools and the opportunities that this will give to the tens of thousands of children across Liberia in those schools.

The transition to LEAP is the result of a thorough study — by the Ministry of Education — of the education landscape in Liberia; exploring the situation in many schools across Liberia’s Counties. Rightly, our new administration wanted to review the program and its impact to see whether it could — and indeed should — commit to its future. Amidst their review, they considered the highly anticipated independent evaluation that was conducted by the Center for Global Development and Innovations for Poverty Action last year. The study was greeted with much excitement and pride when it revealed learning had increased by 60% inside Partnership schools (with Bridge students learning twice as much as their peers). It was likely these learning gains — amidst other considerations — that have been instrumental in the decision.

Of course, the old program — PSL — faced challenges and understanding those was a vital part of the review undertaken by the Ministry. For example, the Government’s capacity to employ new teachers and fill critical vacancies at some schools had been hampered by several challenges, including payroll. Working closely with the Ministry of Education to support vetting and placement of qualified teachers and identifying so called ‘ghost teachers’ was an important task. The new Government has already made progress with this and we will continue to support teachers in getting on to the Government payroll. At Bridge we have put in place additional measures to ensure that teachers do not suffer whilst that process is taking place.

Knowing these challenges exist, it is to be welcomed that the Ministry has emphasised that there will be greater focus on collaboration as the program moves forward. It is a positive development that the National Teachers Association of Liberia has offered LEAP its support. We all know that supported and empowered teachers lie at the heart of good schools and are essential to learning.

Outside of LEAP, we at Bridge Liberia, are particularly proud of supporting and helping trial initiatives such as the origination of a 7:00 to 15:00 school day, which has been seen as a new benchmark for the nationwide education program. Adopted widely by the Ministry of Education it will take effect at the start of the new academic year for all Liberian schools.

As the Ministry has outlined, there will be challenges ahead for LEAP, such as securing sustainable funding, but we are confident that these hurdles can be overcome with strong political leadership. We’re looking forward to working closely with the Ministry on LEAP; and helping enhance the effectiveness of the public private partnership program. We are excited to continue to serve local families and communities from Monrovia to Maryland County and proud to continue as a partner of the Government of Liberia. Over the next year I am confident we will see learning gains further improved as the program embeds itself in the country and more of Liberia’s children will shine bright.