Education Minister Dr. Jarso M. Jallah
The Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Education has been selected to host a continental educational conference in May 2027 known as Africa Federation for Teachers’ Regulatory Authority (AFTRA). The AFTRA serves as the continent’s platform that brings together Ministers of Education, Teaching Councils, Regulatory Authorities, Policy Makers, Development Partners, Universities and Educational Experts from across Africa. They gather annually to deliberate on issues affecting teachers, professionalism, teaching regulations, quality assurance, education standards, and the future of teaching and learning on the continent. While breaking the news on the pending conference over the weekend, Education Minister Dr. Maley Jarso Jallah announced that her institution is on the verge of constituting a national organizing committee that would ensure the successful hosting of the conference. Among institutions that will form part of committee she said are the Ministries of Gender and Social protection, Information, Health, Foreign Affairs, and Transport. Other agencies are the Liberia National Police, the Liberia immigration Service and the General Services Agencies. “The government of Liberia viewed the pending continental educational conference not merely as an event but an opportunity to strengthen national systems and promote institutional and continental collaboration that advances educational excellence and teachers’ professionalism throughout the country,” Dr. Jallah asserted. The privilege of Liberia to host the continental confab has been described by Minister Jallah as a historical milestone recognition indicating that Liberia has demonstrated a growing commitment to educational reforms including teachers’ professionalism and quality assurance within the educational sector. “Liberia became a full member of AFTRA in 2024 and within a short period of time our country has demonstrated strong leadership and commitment to advancing teacher licensing, school accreditation, and education quality standards in line with the continental and international best practices,” Dr. Jallah revealed. She announced that President Joseph N. Boakai office is expected to form part of the conference with education being one of the pivotal pillars of government’s ARREST agenda for inclusive development. Meanwhile, the MOE over the weekend received a donation of electronic devices from the World Food Programme (WFP) in support of the project known as “School Connect”. The boxes containing multiple supplies of laptops and tablets are intended to be used by the IT department of the ministry to capture and provide accurate data on the implementation of activities of the school feeding program across the country. Education Minister Jallah said users of the devices will track indicators such as school enrollment, attendance, food supply, and consumption. She said despite donors support, the government of Liberia has contributed US$1.8M to this year’s school feeding program; adding that government also made a global commitment that 45% of primary kids will receive school feeding benefit by 2029.