Lavereging Education in War Torn Countries

LEVERAGING LEARNING:
Revitalizing Education in Post-Conflict Liberia
Review of the International Rescue Committee’s

Liberia Repatriation and Reintegration Education Program, 1998–2001
International Rescue Committee
Child and Youth Protection and Development Unit
Copyright © December 2005

Original date 2002
By International Rescue Committee
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
Email:children@theirc.org
www.theirc.org
Photographs © by International Rescue Committee
MISSION STATEMENT
Founded in 1933, the IRC is a global leader in emergency relief, rehabilitation, protection of human rights,
post-conflict development, resettlement services and advocacy for those uprooted or affected by conflict
and oppression.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The International Rescue Committee expresses its sincere thanks to all of the practitioners who participated
in the study. Special thanks go to the efforts of Jonathan Miller, Felix Mara, Yourfee Kamara, and Dr. Evelyn
Kandakai. Special thanks also go to Pearson Foundation for their editorial assistance and to the U.S. Bureau
of Population, Refugees, and Migration for funding the study.
This report was researched and written by Carl Triplehorn, an independent consultant hired by the
International Rescue Committee in 2001 to review and assess its Liberia Repatriation and Reintegration
Education Program. Rebecca Winthrop, Education Technical Advisor at the International Rescue Committee,
provided writing contributions, editorial assistance and project oversight. The report was finalized with con-
tributions from Jackie Kirk, Wendy Smith, David Walker, Jonathan Miller, Jane Warburton, Julian Watson and
Paul Taylor.
All statements of facts and expressions of opinion contained in this publication are the sole responsibility of
the author.

Leveraging Learning: Revitalizing Education in Post-Conflict Liberia i
Published 2002
Table of Contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
List of Tables, Charts, and Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Executive Summary 1
Summary of IRC Program Achievements . 1
Lessons Learned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Methodology 5
Background 6
Liberian Educational System and the Impacts of the War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
IRC Liberia’s Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Assessment Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Working Environment: Security and Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Overview of IRC Liberia Education Program 11

Program Assessment, Planning and Start-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Foundation Laying and Funding . . . . . . . . 11
Staff Organization and Identification . . . 12
Review of IRC Liberia Education Program Components 14

Capacity Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Program Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Program Impacts 45
Increased Access to Education . . . . . . . . 45
Increased Quality of Education . . . . . . . . 48
Supported the Development of an Educational System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Impacts on Repatriation 51
Repatriation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Return to their Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Reintegration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Conclusions 56
Recommendations for Future Programs . 56
Appendices 62
Appendix A: Methodology for Liberian Education Program Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Appendix B: Assessment of Children Not Attending School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Appendix C: Casual Pathway of Liberia Refugee Education Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Appendix D: Matrix of IRC Trainings from 1998–2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Appendix E: Percentage of Girls’ Attendance in Nimba County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Appendix F: Percentage of Girls’ Attendance in Bong County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Leveraging Learning: Revitalizing Education in Post-Conflict Liberia ii
Published 2002
Foreword
Over the last several years, it has become that of 2001, the report highlights a range of
increasingly clear that early restoration of qual- issues that have resonance with and relevance
ity education services plays an important role to current efforts to restore education. These
in post-conflict recovery of war-torn nations. include the role of teacher training and interim
Liberia is no exception. With a new government incentive measures in stabilizing the education
in place and high hopes for peaceful reconstruc- system and “preserving” its capacity; the ways
tion and development, Liberians are eager for in which program funding cycles hindered repa-
education. Restoring an education system that is triation of returning Liberian refugees; and the
accessible to all and promotes peace, tolerance importance of a multi-level approach to rapidly
and equality is a massive task for Liberia as it restore education services without sacrificing
emerges from 14 years of intermittent civil war. quality. Recommendations made relating to
Leveraging learning from past efforts to revital- these and other issues will be particularly help-
ize Liberia’s education system will undoubtedly ful in informing current efforts.
assist in meeting this challenge.
We hope that this report will be of use to all
That is why the International Rescue Committee those working in education during post-conflict
is reissuing the report on its 1998–2001 Liberia and early reconstruction contexts.
Repatriation and Reintegration Education
Program: Leveraging Learning: Revitalizing
Rebecca Winthrop
Education in Post-Conflict Liberia. Researched
Education Technical Advisor
and written in 2001 by an independent con-
sultant, the report aims to document and
assess the program’s accomplishments, cap-
ture learning and provide guidance for future
post-conflict education programs. Although it
has been used extensively by the International
Rescue Committee’s education staff mem-
bers, especially in Liberia, the report did not
have wide external circulation at the time of its
release in 2002.
Reviewing the three-year life of the

International Rescue Committee’s education
program—from its inception in 1998 to its
abrupt closure in 2001, due to U.S. government
sanctions against Charles Taylor’s govern-
ment and a resurgence of violence—the report
provides a chilling reminder of how peace is
so often gained and lost. While Liberia’s situ-
ation today is unquestionably different from

Leveraging Learning: Revitalizing Education in Post-Conflict Liberia iii
Published 2002
List of Tables, Charts and Figures
Table 26 IRC Incentive Payments
Tables
Table 27 Matrix of Impact of Teacher Incentive Program
Table 1 Focus Groups and Discussion Topics Table 28 2001 GSC Participation
Table 2 Liberian Refugee Students and Teachers Table 29 Top Reasons Why Girls Drop Out of School
Disaggregated by County of Return
Table 30 Top Activities of Interest in GSC
Table 3 Contributions to the Restarting of the Liberian
Table 31 Matrix of Impact of the Girls’ Social Club Program
Educational System
Table 32 Children Going to School and How Their School Is
Table 4 Timing of Donor Contributions to the IRC Liberia
Paid For
Education Program
Table 33 Indicators for Quality Education and the IRC’s
Table 5 Comparison of the Organizational Structure of the
Contribution
IRC and the LMOE
Table 34 WAEC Results for IRC-Supported High Schools
Table 6 Educational Statistics for April Each Year for the
IRC’s Education Programs Table 35 Percentage of Girls Taking the WAEC Exams
Table 7 PTA Projects Undertaken Table 36 2001 WAEC Exam Results
Table 8 Selected Summary of Tools Distributed through PTA Table 37 Who Stayed During the Liberian War, Who Fled, Why
Programs and Why Do They Remain in Asylum?
Table 9 Matrix of Impact of PTA Project

Charts
Table 10 Mentor Activities in the 2000/01 School Year
Table 11 Matrix of Impact of Mentor Program Chart 1 Percentage of Volunteer Teachers in Bong and Nimba
Counties
Table 12 Matrix of Impact of ABC Program
Chart 2 Comparison of Girls’ Attendance in Bong and Nimba
Table 13 Matrix of Impact of Resource Centers
Counties
Table 14 ZRTTI Training and Trainees
Chart 3 Total Percentage of Girls’ Attendance
Table 15 CEO/DEO Training of Trainers Program
Table 16 Contents of DEO/CEO Kit Figures
Table 17 Matrix of Impact of CEO/DEO/Principal Training
Figure 1 IRC Program Components
Table 18 Material Support Given by IRC Education Program
Figure 2 Organizational Chart for IRC Liberia Refugee
Table 19 Matrix of Impact of Educational Material Support
Education Program
Table 20 Components of IRC School Kits
Figure 3 Components of the LMOE “C” Level Certificate
Table 21 Components of Textbook Sets Program
Table 22 Components of Teacher’s Kits Figure 4 Topics Covered During Trainings
Table 23 Components of Student Kits Figure 5 Migration of Returnees
Table 24 Matrix of Impact of School Materials
Table 25 Example of Incentive Schedule and Payment for May
2001

Leveraging Learning: Revitalizing Education in Post-Conflict Liberia iv
Published 2002
Abbreviations
ADRA Adventist Development and Relief Agency

BPRM U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration
CEO County Education Officer
DEO District Education Officer
ECOMOG Economic Community of West African States Ceasefire Monitoring Group
FAWE Liberia Forum for African Women Educationalists
GSC Girls’ Social Club
GTZ Gesellschaft fur Technicsche Zusammerarbeit
IDP Internally Displaced Person
IRC International Rescue Committee
LCI Liberian Children’s Initiative
LMOE Liberian Ministry of Education
LRRRC Liberian Refugee, Repatriation and Resettlement Commission
SDP Sustainable Development Promoters
UNDP United Nations Development Program
UNESCO United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
WFP World Food Program
ZRTTI Zorzor Rural Teacher Training Institute

Leveraging Learning: Revitalizing Education in Post-Conflict Liberia v
Published 2002
Executive Summary
From September 1998 to August 2001, the
International Rescue Committee (IRC) provided
Summary of IRC Program Achievements
educational assistance to support the rep atria- Provided direct educational assistance
tion and reintegration of returning Liberian to more than 42,000 students
refugees. Focusing on the areas of return, and Under incredibly difficult circumstances, the
in close collaboration with the Liberian govern- IRC provided educational assistance to more
ment, the IRC education program provided than 42,000 Liberian students over three years.
multi-layered support for 159 schools in the This assistance included the provision of desks
returnee areas of Lofa, Bong and Nimba and learning and recreational materials, as well
Counties. as training and material support for teachers,
school administrators and government officials.
As shown in Figure 1, the program had three
main components: capacity building, program Increased the quality of education
support and protection. in Liberian schools
This report documents the uniqueness of the Through the IRC’s multi-faceted support and
IRC’s program through an evaluation of the collaboration with the Liberian Ministry of
individual program components, as well as Education (LMOE), the quality of education
a discussion of its contribution to the larger increased in all schools. Over the course of the
Liberian repatriation and reintegration process. program, students in IRC-supported schools
It is hoped that this report will both contrib- increased their pass rate on the West Africa
ute to the growing repertoire of strategies for Exam Council (WAEC) yearly exam. Notably,
implementing education programs in emergen- high school pass rates increased from 9.5% in
cies and in early reconstruction contexts, and 1999 to 32% in 2000, and to 69.8% in 2001.
serve as a tribute to the Liberians, especially Interestingly, girls in both high school and
IRC Liberia staff, who worked on the project. middle school passed at a rate higher than
the boys and higher than the national aver-
FIGURE 1: IRC Program Components

Capacity Building Program Support Protection
Parent Teacher Associations Furniture Monitoring
Quality of Instruction Student, Teacher and School Materials Girls Social Club
Mentoring of Teachers
Resource Centers
Assistance to the Liberian Government
Restarting Zorzor Teacher Training
College
County and District Education Officer
Training and Support

Leveraging Learning: Revitalizing Education in Post-Conflict Liberia 1
Published 2002
age. Improved quality of education in the IRC Increased the number of qualified
schools was also shown by noted increases in and trained teachers
teachers’ preparation and satisfaction with the The reopening of the teacher training colleges
work. Importantly, in the absence of any other increased the number of certified teachers. As
teacher-training program, IRC support set the these trainings were for a select group of teach-
standard for teacher performance in non-IRC- ers, the IRC also initiated a teacher mentoring
supported government schools and private program and developed resource centers to
schools. improve the quality of teachers’ preparation
Increased the availability of and class performance. The availability of train-
affordable education ing attracted untrained community members to
enter the teaching profession.
While the program set out to assist refugees,
the IRC’s support of government-run private Supported the management and
schools increased the availability of affordable coordination of educational programs
education for all of the children in the targeted At the district level, the IRC provided manage-
communities. This specifically benefited chil- ment, training and limited logistical support for
dren of the poorest families, such as internally district and county education officers. The IRC
displaced persons (IDPs), as well as those who supported the LMOE to address concerns such
had stayed in their village throughout the as overstaffing, widespread drops in student
war. Additionally, the provision of educational attendance and issues within individual schools.
materials lessened the financial burden of the At the national level, for the first two years of
parents, enabling them to pay school fees and the program the IRC played an instrumental
send more children to school. role in assisting with the coordination of the
Stabilized the Liberian education educational sector through the Ministry of
system in three counties Education.
The IRC’s training and payment of incentives Enhanced the role of communities in
to teachers kept the schools staffed and preschool management and sustainability
vented the closure of schools due to teachers’ Through support and training of Parent Teacher
strikes. Prior to the IRC’s intervention, public Associations (PTAs), the IRC enhanced the
school teachers were migrating to the private role of the community in the management
schools that offered more consistent and higher of schools. Starting from focus groups with
pay. The IRC’s payment of teachers’ incentives, PTAs and government officials, the IRC’s train-
the opening of teacher training colleges, a ing clarified the relationship among the PTA,
teacher mentoring program and the provision the school and the government, as well as
of teachers’ packages provided an economic increased each PTA’s organizational capacity.
and morale boost for government schools to The impact of these trainings was multiplied
retain both trained and untrained teachers. by the attendance of government officials. A
support network for district and county PTAs

Published 2002
was also established. Additionally, the provision that those refugees who did return were not
of agricultural support for school farm projects supported when they were most at risk.
enabled some PTAs to generate income and
Increase the time frame for
thereby address pressing needs within their
implementation and handover
schools, such as payment of teachers, rehabili-
tation of infrastructure and adequacy of school Much of the IRC’s work over the past three
furniture. years has been to get the schools function-
ing and to put basic systems into place. From
Increased percentage of girl NGO experience in stable countries in other
students and female teachers
parts of Africa, programs like this take at least
Over the course of three years, the percentage seven years to truly flourish. Given the con-
of girl students and female teachers increased tinuing weakened state of the schools, the
in Bong and Nimba Counties. While it is dif- communities and the Ministry of Education,
ficult to attribute the rise in girls’ attendance much remains to be done. The IRC’s departure
directly to the IRC, this data, plus the previ- is particularly inopportune as many of the more
ously indicated high passage rate of girls on the developmentally focused aspects of the pro-
WAEC exam, strongly indicates that IRC schools gram (such as the PTAs, the GSC and teacher
created a conducive environment for girls. The training) were beginning to thrive.
rise in the percentage of female teachers can
Use a multi-level approach to best
be attributed to IRC advocacy in recruitment
and most rapidly effect change
and retention of women at the school and gov-
ernment levels. By working at all levels of the Liberian educa-
tional system, the IRC was able to support local
officials to rapidly address quality, protection
Lessons Learned and management issues. For example, through
Prepare donors to support earlier regular monitoring the IRC supported com-
interventions to protect returnees munities and school administrations to address
their own problems; where this failed the IRC
It took more than a year following the elec-
liaised with the LMOE on behalf of the school
tion for donors to release funds to support
for support. Similarly, the IRC trained regional
the education program. This delay in funding
education officers on the importance of teacher/
hindered an organized repatriation, as students
student ratios and supported the LMOE to
and their families could not move systematically
address schools for teacher reallocation.
across the border for the start of the 1998/99
school year. With the late arrival of funding in Provide incentives, which are essential to
September 1998, this window of opportunity stabilization of the education system
was lost, potentially causing students to con- Without a livable wage, teachers and school
tinue their education in the refugee camps. administrators will disrupt the education
Additionally, the late arrival of funding meant system. The IRC’s payment of a small incentive
served to motivate teachers and school admin-

Published 2002
istrators to continue working and not to leave or sector, to facilitate monitoring of protection,
the education profession. Training, mentoring integration and program issues. As an example,
and the teaching materials also encouraged a community file should be kept of the initial
participation and morale. assessments together with monthly community
progress reports. While understandably these
Provide earlier training and monitoring
should be kept together for six-month compila-
support for PTA development
tions, the information could later be divided
In the third year of the program, the IRC-sup- out by community.
ported PTAs began to thrive organizationally.
During the first two years of the program, at
the community’s request, the IRC provided
agricultural support to enable PTAs to gen-
erate income to pay teachers’ salaries and
address other school needs. While address-
ing the expressed desire of the PTAs, many
of the income-generating projects were only
moderately successful due to poor manage-
ment and planning. Specific areas of support
could include: PTAs and protection monitoring
within the community; linkages between NGOs
rehabilitating schools and PTA development;
and linking PTA income-generation projects
with local and international development and
agricultural NGOs. In the future, PTA develop-
ment should start with intensive training and
non-income generating projects, such as child
protection, to build PTA leadership and imple-
mentation capacity.
Develop the IRC’ s and the

communities’ capacities to monitor
and address protection issues
Local leaders, the PTA, the school adminis-
trators and government officials should be
supported to monitor protection and integra-
tion in the school and community. Importantly,
they should be empowered to both collect
and interpret the information. Similarly, the IRC
should maintain its files by community, not date

Published 2002
Methodology
The consultant spent 30 days in Liberia follow- From the total of 126 IRC-supported schools,
ing the closure of the program in August 2001. 12 were selected for direct assessment. Two
One week was spent in the capital, Monrovia, members of the assessment team visited
compiling and reviewing program docu- each school for four to six hours. Prior to the
ments such as the original proposals, monthly visit, team members compiled and reviewed
field reports, IRC correspondence and train- documents related to the school to guide their
ing manuals. Additionally, while in Monrovia, discussion. Each visit typically began with a tour
interviews were conducted with IRC senior of the school conducted by the head teacher
staff, collaborating partners and the Liberian along with representatives from the Parent
Ministry of Education. The major activities of Teachers Association (PTA) and school staff.
the consultancy were conducted in Bong and This was then followed by the use of participa-
Nimba Counties. Three IRC staff assisted with tory methodologies in focus groups composed
the assessment: Jonathan Miller (IRC Education of PTA members, teachers and students around
Coordinator), Felix Mara (County Education the topics identified in the textbox.
Officer – Bong) and Yourfee Kamara (County
For more specific details of the methodology,
Education Officer – Nimba).
see Appendix A.
TABLE 1: Focus Groups and Discussion Topics

PTA Teachers Boys Girls
Refugee, IDP, status Ethnic breakdown of village Schoolgoing and Schoolgoing and
Economic ranking Breakdown of students by age non-schoolgoing non-schoolgoing
Ranking of IRC programs Ranking of IRC programs Ranking of IRC programs Ranking of IRC programs
“Given the fact that education is the brain of every nation and that no people can fully enjoy the sovereignty of
their country while the \dark cloud of illiteracy hangs over the larger portion of their citizenry,
Believing that parents and teachers have a large and inescapable responsibility in fashioning the ideas of
children and youth and that such responsibility requires the collective service of men and women of high and
profound understanding,
Realizing that need to unite…for productivity,
We, the teachers and parents,…establish these rules and regulations for the governance of Toweh Memorial
High School Parent Teachers Association.”
Rules and Regulations Governing
Parent Teachers Association of Toweh Memorial High School
April 5, 1999

Published 2002
Background
The most recent Liberian civil conflict began ernment buildings, businesses, farms and roads
in December 1989 when the National Patriotic had been destroyed, misused or abandoned for
Front of Liberia (NPFL), led by Charles Taylor, some part of the seven-year war.
crossed into Liberia from Côte d’Ivoire to
overthrow the government of Samual Doe.
Taylor quickly controlled most of the country Liberian Educational System and the Impacts of
except the capital of Monrovia; 10 months after the War
the war began Doe was dead, the NPFL had The Liberian educational system has been
been pushed out of the capital, and Economic devastated by the war: schools have been
Community of West African States Ceasefire destroyed, trained staff lost and governmental
Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), a regional infrastructure disconnected. Of an estimated
peacekeeping force, had been installed in population of 2.5 million, of which 55% are
Monrovia. As the war continued, it became of school age, 45% have no access to educa-
more convoluted, involving, at one point, more tion. This is especially true in the rural areas,
than eight different fighting factions, including for younger children and for girls.1 Access to
the government’s Armed Forces. Despite this, upper primary school is limited in the rural
in July 1997 Charles Taylor was elected presi- areas, with secondary schooling available only
dent in an internationally monitored election, in the urban areas. These inadequacies have
thus ending seven years of civil conflict and been further exacerbated by the lack of trained
starting the postwar reconstruction of Liberia. teachers. According to the Liberian govern-
The war’s effect on the Liberian population and ment, unqualified teachers teach more than
infrastructure has been immense. It is estimated 65% of the children in primary and secondary
that more than 150,000 people have died and school.2 In this market of poor public schools,
nearly half of Liberia’s 2.5 million people were private schools have flourished but are unaf-
forced to flee their homes at least once during fordable for most Liberians, especially in the
the conflict. This has given Liberia the largest rural areas. This inability to access quality
percentage of refugees and internally displaced education and the social mobility it provides
persons in the world. According to UNHCR, has been highlighted as one of the contributing
more than 700,000 Liberian refugees sought factors of the war.
asylum in Guinea, Sierra Leone and other sur- During the instability prior to the war in 1989,
rounding countries. Returning refugees, IDPs the educational system deteriorated as the
and those who stayed in Liberia faced the economic and security situation became unsta-
daunting task of totally reconstructing their lives ble. According to the records in the Liberian
as their homes, schools, medical clinics, gov- Ministry of Education, the total number of
1
Ministry of Education, Republic of Monrovia. Education Sector Review 2000: Vol. III. Education Sector Operations Manual. Guidelines on: Policy/Planning Strategies,
Programmes, Personnel, Facilities, Services, Administration and Management, Budgeting and FInance. Monrovia, December 2000. pg. 12.
2
Government of Liberia. (2000) Challenges and Opportunities for Fulfilling the Rights of the Child in War Torn Liberia: Situational Anaylsis. A report joingly commissioned by
the Government of Liberia, The Eminent Person’s Group on Advocacy for Children and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) pg. 68.

Published 2002
schools decreased between 1980 and 1989 the large number of IDPs and refugees and
from 1,830 to 1,765.3 With the outbreak of reintegration back into their home communi-
the war in 1989, the Liberian educational ties. The decisions of both groups to return to
system collapsed completely due to the politi- their home communities depended on security
cal unrest, insecurity and lack of funding; large as well as support from international organiza-
numbers of children did not have access to tions, in addition to the planting season, the
school. In 1994, fewer than 401 schools, or less school calendar and voting.5 The availability
than 25% of the nation’s schools, were open. of schools was of specific concern, as families
Additionally, half of all the classrooms were did not want to interrupt the education of their
nonfunctional due to the looting of roofing children in the refugee education system.
material, furniture, equipment, tools and books.
Students unable to afford or access educational
services simply left school and did not return. IRC Liberia’s Strategy
In 1997, the IRC was considering how best to
Refugee children fleeing to Guinea and Côte
support the return of refugees to Liberia. Of
d’Ivoire continued their schooling for free or at
paramount concern was the refugees’ protec-
low cost in the UNHCR-supported schools run
tion both during the repatriation, as well as
by the IRC and ADRA, respectively. In Guinea,
during their integration back into their home
60,000 refugee students attended pre-primary
communities. As a starting point, assessments
through secondary school classes and activities
were conducted of the refugee teachers and
in 160 IRC-supported schools. To support these
students to determine where they would be
activities, the IRC provided training for 1,400
returning. Based upon the information in Table
teachers and administrators, as well as special
2, the IRC sought permission from the LMOE to
health education programs, one-year vocational
concentrate its interventions in Lofa, Bong and
courses, peace education and special support
Nimba Counties, which cover approximately
to attract girls to school. Ninety-four percent of
42% of Liberia’s schools (17.5%, 14% and
the students in IRC programs passed the stan-
10.4%, respectively).6 As a side note, a similar
dardized WAEC exams.4
agreement was reached with ADRA to concen-
With the ebbing of the fighting in 1997, trate on the schools in the southeastern areas
rebuilding Liberia became the focus of the of refugee return, with UNICEF supporting the
Liberian government and the international areas of non-return.
support. A major priority was repatriation of
3
Government of Liberia. (2000) Challenges and Opportunities for Fulfilling the Rights of the Child in War Torn Liberia: Situational Anaylsis. A report joingly commissioned by
the Government of Liberia, The Eminent Person’s Group on Advocacy for Children and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) pg. 57.
4
These programmes are described in depth
IRC and UNHRCR refer to “The International Rescue Committee Education Programme for Refugee in Guinea, 1991–1998: A Best Practice Study”
5
Mauro de Lorenzo, Doug, Michael Dockrey, Art Hansen and Anna Schowengerdt. Field Report: Refugee Repatriation and Electoral Participation in Liberia. Refugee Policy
Group. June 1997. pg. 3.
6
Governement of Liberia. (2000) Challenges and Opportunities for Fulfilling the Rights of the Child in War Torn Liberia: Situational Analysis. A report joingly commissioned
by the Government of LIberia, The Eminent Person’s Group on Advocacy for Children and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) pg. 58.

Published 2002
TABLE 2: Liberian Refugee Students and Teachers Disaggregated Lack of educational materials
by County of Return
Most schools were almost completely devoid of
Stated County of Estimated Estimated
Return Percentage of Percentage of
basic teaching materials, such as blackboards,
Students 7 Teachers 8 chalk, seating, textbooks, and teaching aids.
Lofa 51% 39% Many students did not have exercise books and
Nimba 16% 14% pens, and in some cases students were required
Bong 12% 23% to bring their own seating to school every day.
Montserrrado
Similarly, teachers also had limited material to
12% 18%
prepare for class and typically no textbooks or
Margibi 3% 0.8%
curricula to guide their lesson plans; in many
Bomi 2% 1%
cases teachers purchased their own chalk.
Grand Bassa 1% 1%
Maryland 1% 0.4% Lack of qualified teachers
Grand Gedeh 0.8% 0.8% Following the war, most of the teachers within
Grand Cape Mount 0.4% 1.19% the public schools were uncertified, with limited
Sinoe 0.3% 0% education; and they lacked the necessary skills
Grand Kru 0.08% 0% to address the needs of war-affected children.
Rivercess 0.04% 0.13% A 1999 survey of primary school teachers
indicated that 35% had teaching credentials,
while only 65% had high school diplomas.9
Assessment Findings At the secondary level the situation was even
FUNCTIONAL NEEDS more serious, with a near absence of qualified
teachers and only 57% having a high school
Limited facilities
education.10
A large number of the existing schools had
Many of the existing teachers were abandoning
been burned, looted or damaged/were
the government schools to pursue higher and
neglected or abandoned. The schools that
steadier incomes through farming, business or
existed were overcrowded, and most children in
teaching in the private schools. As an example,
rural areas lacked access to a functional school.
in 2002, teachers’ salaries were an unlivable 16
Classes in some areas were dismissed when it
USD and nine months in arrears. As a result of
rained due to the poor condition of the roof.
this lack of staff, many schools hired untrained
Repair of these largely cement structures with
teachers outside the government payroll. These
corrugated roofing was prohibitively expensive
teachers were paid a substandard salary by the
for poor rural communities.
7
The information reported in the table above was extracted from 25,678 student registration forms in 1998.
8
This survey was conducted during a January 1998 IRC Teacher Training Workshop of 754 Trainees.
9
10
Ibid. pg. 62.

Published 2002
PTAs, and received small incentives from NGOs particularly, were less keen on sitting in class
and the WFP Emergency School Feeding than learning a marketable skill.
Program. The noncompetitive teachers’ salaries
CAPACITY NEEDS
were also key obstacles to repatriation and rein-
tegration of the refugee teachers, as they were Lack of resources within families and
hesitant to leave a steady income of 80,000 communities to support education
Guinea Francs.11
The most common reason for children not
Inability to pay educational expenses being able to attend school was lack of school
fees. After the war it was estimated that more
Many students were unable to attend school
than 80% of the Liberian population lived
because their families could not pay their
below the poverty line.13 A household survey
school fees and “hidden” educational expenses
conducted in 2000 in the most wealthy and
like school uniforms, textbooks and exercise
urban county, Montserrado, revealed that 70%
books. In some cases, mandatory black shoes
of the households were earning less than 50
and school socks double the cost of a school
USD per month, with two-thirds of those fami-
uniform.12 Parents often had to prioritize the
lies earning under 25 USD.14 More to the point,
educational needs of their children, which typi-
governmental school fees in 2001 were officially
cally meant excluding girls and children with
300 Liberty (6 USD) per semester, not including
disabilities.
special hidden costs such as school mainte-
Quality and relevancy of education nance and activity fees. Additionally, students
had to provide their own school materials,
Following the war, parents had to weigh the
attend school in uniform (approximately 400
importance of their child’s education and eco-
Liberty) and, if in a matriculating class (Grades
nomic sacrifice versus the family’s’ immediate
9 and 12), pay an exam fee of 1,000 Liberty.
reconstruction, farming and domestic needs.
Based on these costs, families were often
From other parts of Africa, there is evidence
forced to choose which of their many children
that attendance depends upon the quality of
were to attend school.
the education and the relevancy to the fami-
lies’ and children’s lives. Girls were particularly Weakened Liberian Ministry of Education
affected, as they also had to contend with a cul-
Due to the war, the capacity of the LMOE to
ture that did not value their education. In some
lead and support education had been sig-
cases, schools did not provide young people
nificantly eroded at the national, district and
with the skills for their daily lives. Adolescents,
county levels. Basic materials, such as functional
11
Wendy Smith, IRC Education Technical Advisor, June 20, 2002.
12
David Walker, IRC communication, April 2002.
13
14
Ibid. pg. 15.

Published 2002
buildings, computers, telephones, furniture and training college. Throughout the fighting, the
office supplies, were unavailable. This hindered IRC sought to support the IDPs fleeing Gbanga
LMOE staff from performing their jobs. Similar County and in 2001 IRC education staff assisted
to teachers, the LMOE officials were under- in establishing schools in the IDP camps.
paid, leading to corruption and further erosion
All three counties suffered from tremendous
of their credibility. Additionally, in 1998 the
destruction of infrastructure, particularly that
Ministry adopted a five-year Basic Education
of the bush road system. Only one paved road
and Training Sector Rehabilitation Program
existed in the area, running from Monrovia
focusing on restoring educational facilities
through Gbanga to Guinea. The rest of the
and services to pre-war levels with a specific
roads were dirt and were severely destroyed by
emphasis on decentralization, staffing levels
the seven years’ misuse and neglect from war,
and quality. While the program was solidly
by the extended rainy season and by commer-
planned, limited resources were allocated and
cial logging operations. Meter-deep tire ruts
it had to rely primarily on the support of NGOs
and bridges made out of loosely laid logs were
and UN agencies for its implementation. In
not unusual. Vehicles mired in mud and staff
some cases, this implementation was delayed
stalled on motorbikes and spending the night
because LMOE staff lacked the management
in the bush were not uncommon occurrences.
and training necessary to direct the activities of
implementing partners.
Working Environment: Security and

Infrastructure
Security, especially of Lofa County, was a con-
cern from the very beginning of the program.
As a side note, these concerns became a reality
in 1999. In April, IRC’s Lofa County Field Office
in Voinjama was looted by Liberian Security
forces and all property was stolen; subse-
quently, all operations were suspended and
administrative functions transferred to Kolahun
and Gbanga. In August, insurgents looted the
Kalahon office and abducted the IRC Education
Program Manager, who was released unharmed
three days later. At this time IRC suspended
all activities in Lofa County. Limited programs
were established in March 2000 and again
suspended in September because govern-
ment troops looted the IRC-supported teacher

Published 2002
Overview of IRC Liberia Education Program
Program Assessment, Planning and Start-up Foundation Laying and Funding

In the first quarter of 1998, UNHCR supported In the refugee camps in Guinea, the IRC con-
IRC and ADRA to assess the rehabilitation ducted information campaigns for students,
needs of schools within their respective areas. parents and teachers to prepare them for the
Ultimately, the IRC was funded to undertake repatriation process and for the start of the
school rehabilitation, as UNHCR’s limited IRC’s new programs. The IRC conveyed its find-
support went to GTZ and ADRA with the vast ings from the assessment about the security
majority of the schools being rehabilitated by situation in Liberia and, specifically, the condi-
UNOPS/UNDP and IFESH. Despite this set- tions of the schools. As part of this awareness
back, the IRC used the information from the training, the IRC facilitated a visit of representa-
assessment detailed above to design its multi- tives from the Liberian Ministry of Education to
layered intervention to restart the education provide information on the education system
system while simultaneously providing protec- and job opportunities and to encourage the
tion for the returning refugees. As detailed in return of refugee teachers.
the diagram below, the IRC sought to enhance
The first educational proposal was submitted
the contributions of the LMOE and school
in March 1998, and following eight months of
commmunity as well as acted in concert with
extensive negotiations, funding was secured
support from other educational organizations.
from two sources: UNHCR and U.S. State
To further illustrate the overall program design,
Department Bureau of Population, Refugees,
a modified causal pathway is included in
and Migration (BPRM). UNHCR’s funds were
Appendix C.
given through two sources: UNHCR’s general
TABLE 3: Contributions to the Restarting of the Liberian Educational System

Ministry of Education Community Contribution IRC Contribution Contributions from UN
Organizations and NGOs
Administration Volunteer teachers, guards Experience from the IRC’s School rehabilitation
Salaries and cooks programs in Guinea School feeding program,
School materials Participation in PTAs and labor School materials and furniture food for work, food for train-
in PTA farms Mentoring ing (WFP)
Trainings
Financial, in-kind and labor School monitoring School and educational
for school rehabilitation materials
School supervisor training
Lmiited upkeep of roads Specialized programs in
ABC/KG training and curriculum adult literacy, accelerated
Student school fees
Girls’ social clubs learning and peace educa-
Incentives tion
Resource centers
Parent Teacher Association
training and grants

Published 2002
TABLE 4: Timing of Donor Contributions to the IRC Liberia Education Program
Donor and Grant 1998 1999 2000 2001 Subtotal Total Funds
J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A
UNHCR $1,460,225
Liberian Children’s Initiative $614,624
Signed •
Course of Grant $614,624
Assistance of Liberian Refugees $845,601
Signed • •
Course of Grant $432,486 $413,115
BPRM $1,741,447
Signed • • •
Course of Grant $749,312 $929,920 $811,527
No-cost Extension
TOTAL PROJECT COST $3,201,672
fund for repatriation and reintegration program-

ming and the Liberian Children’s Initiative (LCI),
Staff Organization and Identification
a special UNICEF/UNHCR fund to supplement To identify staff, the IRC conducted interviews
normal post-conflict assistance for children. in Liberia, as well as the refugee camps in
The delay in funding is surprising as IRC had Guinea. Seventeen IRC refugee program staff
long been identified as the implementing were hired to work in their home communities
partner in Lofa and Bong by UNHCR. When the in Liberia. Many of these staff had worked for
funding did arrive, it arrived after the summer more than five years in the IRC Guinea program
school break and after the 1998/99 school and had risen through the ranks from teacher,
year had begun. This meant that the IRC was principal, education officer to senior manage-
unable to pre-position materials for the open- ment. The remaining positions were filled
ing of school and conduct orientation training through interviews in Liberia.
for teachers and school administrators. More
The organization of IRC Liberia’s Education
importantly, this hindered the IRC from being
Program mirrored that of the LMOE (see Table
directly involved in supporting the students to
5). This was designed to enhance the IRC’s
finish their schools in Guinea and then move
coordination and capacity building with the
smoothly into the Liberian schools. It should be
Liberian Educational System. In Monrovia,
noted that this lack of donor appreciation for
the Education Coordinator and the Assistant
the beginning of the school year occurred in
Education Coordinator liaised between IRC
the second year, and that during the third year
programs and the specific departments within
the IRC went for six months without secured
the Ministry. At the county level, each of the
funding. The donors’ delay in signing the grants
seriously impeded program efficiency.

Published 2002
IRC’s Education Program Managers coordinated TABLE 5: Comparison of the Organizational Structure of the IRC
with the MOE’s County Education Officer. and the LMOE
IRC Education Program Liberian Ministry of Education
In each of the three counties, six IRC Education
Education Coordinator Assistant Minister for
Officers (EOs) were deployed to work alongside Instruction
Assistant Education
the MOE District Education Officers (DEOs). In Coordinator Assistant Minister for
the first three months of implementation, the Administration
IRC decided to decentralize its operations and Education Program Managers County Education Officers
assigned each EO to live in the specific districts Assistant Education Program (CEOs)
where they worked. This structure allowed for Managers (AEMs)
maximum contact at the community level with Education Officers (EOs) District Education Officers
the school administration, parents and students, (DEOs)
which proved to be unique. Community mem-
bers told IRC representatives that “this project month. At each school, the EOs supported the
was unlike any other NGO projects as the IRC development of PTAs, Girls’ Clubs, and mentor-
workers did not leave the village at the end of ing programs, as well as assisting the principals
the day but were a part of the community.”15 in the development of school administrative
systems, such as record keeping and monthly
Each EO was provided with a motorcycle, fuel statistics. They also conducted 10 teacher
and maintenance, as well as raincoats, helmets observations per month. Where possible, the
and rubber boots to operate autonomously in EOs and DEOs traveled together to the schools
the field. Each EO was required to visit at least on the IRC-provided motorbike.
10 (later decreased to eight) schools twice a
FIGURE 2: Organizational Chart for IRC Liberia Refugee Education Program
Education Coordinator
Assistant Education
Coordinator
Program Manager Program Manager Program Manager

Lofa County Bong County Nimba County
Education Education Education

Coordinator Coordinator Coordinator
15
IRC [1999] BPRM [Bu . pg. 15.

Published 2002
Review of IRC Liberia
Education Program Components
The IRC’s education program was unique due TABLE 6: Educational Statistics for April Each Year for the IRC’s
to its scale and breadth of activity. As can be Education Programs
seen from Table 6, at its peak the IRC sup- Bong Nimba Lofa TOTAL
ported 159 schools and more than 42,000 1998/1999
students in Lofa, Bong and Nimba Counties. Number of Schools 48 52 59 159
Put in perspective, this means that at a national Primary 46 48 61 155
level more than 7% of Liberia’s schoolgoing Junior High 27 31 21 79
children were directly benefiting from the IRC’s Secondary 2 10 1 13
programming. Within the communities in which Number of Students 12,635 10,573 18,905 42,113
the IRC worked, almost 100% of local school- Number of Teachers 489 539 684 1712
going children benefited from the IRC’s support Mentors 30 28 43 101
to education. During the 1999/2000 academic 1998/1999
year, the number of schools and students sup- Number of Schools 58 68 13 139
ported decreased due to the deterioration of
Primary 55 60 12 127
security in Lofa County. To support the devel-
Junior High 27 39 5 71
opment of education in these counties, the IRC
Secondary 3 8 1 12
initiated activities at the national, county, dis-
Number of Students 15,206 21,071 5,006 41,283
trict, and community and school levels. These
Number of Teachers 616 843 142 1601
programs included capacity building, program
support and protection. Mentors 33 29 11 73
1998/1999
Number of Schools 58 68 0 126
Capacity Building Primary 55 60 12 127
COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION: Junior High 27 39 5 71
PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATIONS Secondary 3 8 1 12
Number of Students 17,262 19,681 0 36,943
The IRC’s initial assessment determined that the Number of Teachers 583 871 0 1554
majority of the PTAs were non-functional. Most
Mentors 52 68 0 120
stated that they had experience implementing
agriculture projects but lacked tools and seeds
• “Wanted the grant projects, but some may
to restart the projects. Based upon the groups’
not want (or may not be able) to execute
stated desire to restart income-generating
them as intended.”
projects, the IRC provided tools, seeds and
other farming equipment to PTAs to undertake • “Are not yet attuned to the importance of
small agricultural projects. Many of these initial community based support for schools via
interventions were not successful due to a lack income generation (as opposed to individual
of PTA capacity and poor-quality tools. From gain).”
IRC meeting notes16, the PTAs:
16
Comments on Phase III Strategy Paper From Education Staff, November Base, To: David [Walker] and Mark [Merrell], September 1, 1999.

Published 2002
• “Emphasize teacher/student participation TABLE 7: PTA Projects Undertaken
to the exclusion of parent participation. The Swamp Rice 26
grant programs involved teachers and stu- Upland Rice 25
dents contributing all of the agricultural labor Vegetables 17
raising issues of how much time students’
Peanuts 17
labor should be used. During the first year,
Cassava 15
many of the schools that used student labor
TOTAL 107
failed as the fields were abandoned during
school breaks.” As a complement to the agricultural projects,
in 1999 the IRC collaborated with Sustainable
To address these issues, the IRC created a PTA
Development Promoters (SDP)—a Liberian
Training Program. From March until May of the
NGO and UNHCR implementing partner—to
1998/99 school year, each of the IRC’s EOs facil-
provide rice polishers/mills18 to three PTAs. As
itated a one-day goal setting workshop in each
a collaborative endeavor, each of the PTAs was
of IRC’s 105 target schools. The focus of these
to provide land for the mill, as well as project
trainings was the identification of problems
leadership and labor for mill construction and
within their school and the development of proj-
operation. The IRC was to provide manage-
ects to raise money to address them. While the
ment, leadership and financial training, which
workshops were well received, IRC staff identi-
the Harvard volunteer also developed. Lastly,
fied many areas of future training, including
SDP provided the rice mills, shelter construc-
the roles and responsibilities of the PTA, com-
tion materials, maintenance and fuel, as well
munity mobilization and financial accounting.17
as technical expertise on their installation and
To address these issues, in June 2000 the IRC
operation. This collaborative working relation-
hired one PTA Development Officer per county
ship between the IRC and SDP dissolved when
to support the development of the PTAs and
reconditioned machines were delivered, and
track their progress. Additionally, in the same
those that were new were missing parts or
month, an MBA student from Harvard was hired
misinstalled. In one case, a machine stood idle
to assess the training needs of the PTAs and to
for more than 10 months. Despite these short-
develop a PTA training manual. Based upon this
comings and frustrations, the PTAs remained
manual, 14 two-day trainings were held for 630
active supporters of the rice mills. In each of
PTA chairpersons, vice chairpersons, secretaries,
the cases, the PTAs used their own funds to
treasurers and farm managers between January
buy parts and seek outside technical exper-
and March in the 1999/2000 school year.
tise. From a cursory review of the accounting
By the end of the project, the IRC was sup- systems put in place by the IRC, two of the
porting 92 PTA projects (46 and 48 in Bong operating mills are breaking even or making a
and Nimba Counties, respectively), with some marginal profit despite the problems with the
schools implementing more than one project. machines.
17
Internal IRC memo, RE: Notes on Education Program Meeting, July 3–4, 1999.
18
A rice polisher takes the husk off harvested rice.

Published 2002
Impacts of the PTAs used the skills he learned in IRC training to
assist in writing the organizational manifesto for
Supported the reestablishment of a sense
a local trade organization. In another instance,
of community and accomplishment
PTAs from different schools had formed a larger
By bringing the community together to solve association � a sign of the “thickening” of civil
a problem of common interest, PTAs reestab- society.
lished social networks and a sense of community
Established the role of a PTA and increased
that are important in the re-integration process.
involvement in community schools
Averaging 47 members, most of the IRC’s PTAs
have met monthly for more than two years and At the beginning of the program, PTA mem-
have democratically elected chairpersons, some bers reported that the schools were perceived
of whom have been women. From observations, as being “owned” by the principal and the
the groups respected each other and in many teachers and that PTAs were not “community”
cases the groups, including elderly men, were organizations but “school” organizations with
comfortable with women representing them in the principal appointing the PTA chairperson.
the discussions, and showed great pride in their From the focus groups, the PTAs and principals
accomplishments. From the PTA survey at the consistently mentioned that the IRC clarified
end of the program, it was reported that mem- the role of the PTA, not only for the principal
bers were related to roughly 16% of the student and the teachers, but also for the government.
population. Interestingly, the same survey
Limited impact of school income-generating
showed that PTAs in urban areas were less
projects to address school needs
successful than those in the rural areas. While
not fully investigated, this could be attributed A majority of the schools were able to realize
to a looser social network due to the transient a limited return from their agriculture projects.
IDP/refugee communities. No specific data was The resulting crops and money were used to
available regarding the gender, ethnicity or address a diverse number of identified needs,
status (refugee/IDP/local) of PTA members. such as the payment of volunteer teachers’
salaries, purchase of sports equipment, school
Increased the development of furniture and blackboards, or assistance with
district and county civil society school maintenance and rehabilitation. In a few
Support of the PTAs also enhanced the devel- cases, the PTA rice was used for end-of-school
opment of civil society community, both at ceremonies and celebrations. Direct quantifica-
the district and county levels. PTA trainings, tion of the projects is difficult, as the outcomes
as a meeting of leaders from many com- were different and the amount of food pro-
munities, provided a venue for county- and duced was dependent upon the amount and
district-wide networking. Additionally, the PTA quality of the land, as well as the size of the
trainings provided skills that spread to PTAs in school. Additionally, savvy PTAs waited to sell
non-IRC-supported schools, as well as other their rice during the lean period from January
organizations. In one instance, a PTA member to June, when rice prices were high.

Published 2002
Limited gains in organization capacity TABLE 8: Selected Summary of Tools Distributed through PTA
Programs
At the end of project survey, IRC staff felt that
Harvesting Knives 8,942
the PTAs were not self-sufficient and would
Cutlasses 3,319
not be able to survive without the IRC. This is
primarily based upon the high expectations of Hoes 2,800
the agriculture projects. Implementing income- Shovels 496
generating projects is a difficult endeavor, Axes 15
especially in areas of post-conflict where
markets, communities and security are still Rice is a staple in the Liberian diet and consti-
unsettled. tuted more than half of the agriculture projects.
An estimated 80 % of the rice consumed is
Improved food security imported and is more expensive than locally
Analysis of the impact of the PTA projects grown “country” rice. The introduction of the
on food security is difficult given the afore- rice mills is significant for the schools and the
mentioned lack of school farm harvest data. communities involved for three reasons. First,
However, the PTAs did facilitate an increase in rice mills decrease the post-harvest wastage
the amount of rice, vegetables, peanuts and of rice in the de-husking and winnowing pro-
cassava in rural areas of Liberia. Additionally, cess by 30%.19 Thus the machines increase the
given the scarcity of tools in rural areas, the availability of eatable and sellable rice in the
tools also enable local farming and food community. Second, milling saves women’s
production outside the school. One of the time as it takes more than two and half hours to
problems identified early in the project was de-husk and winnow a 100-pound (50 kg)20 sack
that teachers were borrowing the tools for their of rice. And lastly, the de-husking process pro-
farms. This could possibly have been further duces bran, which can be sold as animal feed
investigated to determine whether the tools or used to start piggeries.21 Given the difficulty
were being used as a “community asset” and of transportation and the competition of bush
how to maximize their use to benefit targeted and imported rice in the urban areas, the result-
groups such as poor students and teachers. ing milled rice is typically consumed within the
farmer’s home. In Bellamu the combination of a
seed bank22 and a rice mill are mutually rein-
forcing as they ensure a steady flow of rice for
milling.
19
Interview with Sustainable Development Promoters, Monrovia.
20
Ibid.
21
When non-rice food aid was being provided, many piggeries were started. However, with the scaling down of food aid the piggeries are in a crisis and the price of bran is
rising.
22
Seed banks are special cement storage facilities for farmers to save rice for farming or await a better price. Typically farmers can “borrow” one bag for a growing season
of rice, returning 1.5 bags at harvest.

Published 2002
TABLE 9: Matrix of Impact of PTA Project
Positive Impact Indicator Strategies for Enhancement
Enabled more children Payment of teachers by PTAs enabled classes to be created Increased coordination between the IRC
to go to school and and decreased class size. and NGOs focusing on school rehabilita-
improved the quality of Purchase of school furniture raised the esteem of children. tion to coordinate PTA participation.
the experience
Provided basic funds for school repair.
Increased dialogue, Bolstered community morale, sense of initiative and control. Identify which parents and teachers are
democratic process and PTAs were very proud of their accomplishments and how they not attending and why.
community ownership of had addressed issues within their community. Earlier use of the PTAs to distribute
school Decreased discipline problems. Principals stated that they school, teacher and student materials.
felt more comfortable calling parents and the community to Earlier production of furniture by PTAs.
address specific situations with students.
Assessment of skills and training of PTA
Increased awareness of the challenges within the school and should have been undertaken earlier.
the community’s responsibility to address them.
PTAs stated that they now understood their role in relation to
the school and the government.
Collaborative and democratic decision-making was
increased. Each of the PTAs elected a chairperson who facili-
tated regular meetings and discussions of how raised funds
were spent.
PTAs reported having better skills for holding meetings, man-
aging finances and organizational skills. One PTA member
used the IRC training to write a constitution for another
society that he was in.
Brought communities From observation and discussion, parents were from a mix- Support for non-income-generating
together ture of ethnic groups, returnees, IDPs and gender. projects.
Transparency of accounts increased community trust.
Women were elected PTA chairpersons.
In the focus groups, women were very active members and
represented their interests with obvious support and respect
from the male members.
Bolstered the develop- Non-IRC schools were motivated by starting projects based Sponsoring of regular county- and dis-
ment of the Liberian PTA upon IRC training and models. IRC and non-IRC schools were trict-wide PTA meetings
system sharing information and skills.
Increased availability of PTAs produced rice, vegetables and peanuts and sold them School farms teach “model” farming tech-
food into the local market. niques to parents and students.
Given the problems with anemia, more
emphasis on more nutritious foods, e.g.,
peanuts and greens, and less on bitter
balls and cassava.

Published 2002
TABLE 9: Matrix of Impact of PTA Project (continued)
Negative Impact Indicator Strategies for Mitigation
Frustrated PTAs when Distribution of poor materials (“cutlasses that you could bend Synchronize the purchases of materials
materials were not deliv- over head”). with the planting/ harvesting seasons.
ered in a timely fashion or Tools grouped by PTA with limited consideration of the size of Local production of tools to increase their
not of suitable quality or the PTA workforce. appropriateness. This would also open
quantity the possibility for local skills training or
Late distribution of materials for planting/harvesting.
apprenticeships for young people.
Sensitivity to the workforce capacity of the
community.
Frustrated schools by Urban schools stated that they were frustrated by having only Possible differentiation of projects for
offering limited projects the choice of agriculture projects. urban and rural schools.
for agricultural produc- Planned advancement to more sophis-
tion ticated program inputs based upon
success. Initial agricultural projects from
the start can be seen as a vetting process,
such as cassava grinders, palm nut oil
crushers, coffee mills and rice thrashers.
Created tensions between IRC staff observed teachers borrowing school tools for use on Distribution of tools to school for use by
the principal, PTA and their farms. teachers or as a teacher incentive or a
teachers sharing arrangement.
Frustrated PTAs that were IRC staff expressed frustration about not having the time to Creating a structure to have PTAs mentor
unsuccessful analyze reasons for project failure and support the PTAs to each other.
success.
QUALITY OF INSTRUCTION: CAPACITY the IRC Guinea program. The focus instead
BUILDING OF TEACHERS would be on putting resources into and as close
to the schools as possible through the develop-
Part of the refugees’ decision to repatriate and ment of (1) a mentoring program for trained
resettle was based upon the quality of educa- and untrained teachers and (2) resource centers
tion being offered in Liberia. In this instance, for teachers and students.
the Liberian refugees had to choose between
a cost-free refugee education system of proven Mentor Program
quality and a fee-requiring government system
Based upon the Guinea program, the IRC
of dubious quality. While little could be done
established a teacher-mentoring program in
about the cost of schooling, quality could be
which professional teachers “mentored” trained
improved by providing support for the trained
and untrained teachers within their school to
and untrained teachers. Due to the large num-
improve their planning and classroom skills.
bers of teachers, the distance between schools
The mentor teachers were chosen from exist-
and difficulties in transportation, the IRC deter-
ing teachers within a school using the following
mined that it was not possible to hold trainings
criteria:
for all of the teachers, as was the hallmark of

Published 2002
• Teacher certification. Untrained teachers or • Conducting monthly “mini-workshops” of 45
high school graduates were not considered. minutes to two hours in length, based on an
area of weakness identified during teacher
• Five years’ teaching experience.
observations. The monthly focus on a topic,
• Must come from a school that has at least six such as lesson planning, evaluation or use of
teachers. the curriculum, also focused the teachers on
one area of their teaching and enabled the
• Not a member of the school administration. IRC to produce training materials to support
the mentors.
• Identified by school and IRC staff as an
exemplary teacher through interviews, class- In 1999/00 the mentors participated in a
room observation and review of lesson plans one-time, five-day Peace Education Training-of-
and schemes of work. Trainers Program conducted jointly by IRC Staff
and UNHCR’s Peace Education Specialist. This
Interestingly, the selection of mentors had to be
training reinforced good teaching practices but
reviewed as more qualified teachers returned to
also shaped the mentors’ and teachers’ under-
the school.23
standing of their roles as “agents of peace”
Once identified, the teachers participated in within their communities, as well as reviewed
a two-day training covering topics such as the developmental and educational theory, use of
role of a mentor, short-term and long-term visual aids and classroom management. The
classroom preparation and teacher observation. mentors and IRC staff trained in these work-
In order to ensure administrative support, these shops went on to conduct peace workshops
topics also were covered during the training for more than 1,200 community members and
of principals and Ministry officials discussed teachers. These skills and understandings were
later in this paper. Each mentor was paid a cash further reinforced in a workshop in September
incentive larger than the average teacher. Upon 2000, again jointly conducted by IRC and
returning to their school, mentors were respon- UNHCR. Three other trainings were conducted
sible for: in 2000/01 for the mentors, one on the use
of IRC-provided visual aids, the second pro-
• Observing 10 assigned teachers per month
moting use of the 14 IRC-supported resource
and providing one-to-one feedback to rein-
centers by teachers and students, and the last
force previous observations and workshops.
a final reinforcement of Peace Education work.
• Organizing demonstration lessons for teach- Detailed descriptions of the trainings are given
ers. Topics varied widely, from finding the in Appendix D.
slope of a line or calculating simple interest
The mentor program provided individual and
in math, to naming plant parts in biology, to
small group training, observation and feedback
use of common nouns and time-telling.
for teachers. The accompanying table illustrates
23
IRC Bong County and Lower Lofa Field Office, EPM’s Report on Program Activities, June 1–30, 2000.

Published 2002
TABLE 10: Mentor Activities in the 2000/01 School Year tain, as it is unknown whether the mentors will
Mini- Demonstration Teacher continue their work without the incentives of
workshops Lessons Observations money or training.
# Tchrs # Tchrs
Impacts of the Mentor Program
September (10)* (87) (11) (56) (91)
October 36 (171) 38 (191) 317 Improved classroom performance
November 32 (192) 38 (205) 321
As a result of the mentoring program, teachers
December 24 (83) 133 (106) 218
were more prepared for their lessons, lead-
January 37 358 40 656 321 ing to improved classroom performance. From
February 43 446 42 439 379 focus group discussions it was learned that at
March 50 524 50 789 456 the beginning of the program, a majority of the
September (10)� (87) (11) (56) (91) teachers did not use lesson plans and almost
October 36 (171) 38 (191) 317 none had prepared schemes of work. By the
November 32 (192) 38 (205) 321 end of the program, most were using lesson
December 24 (83) 133 (106) 218 plans and preparing schemes of work. All con-
January 37 358 40 656 321 sistently felt that their teaching had improved
February 43 446 42 439 379 and primarily referred to their preparation of
March 50 524 50 789 456 long- and short-term plans.
April 96 771 89 1,300 910 Boosted professional morale of teachers
May 84 834 93 1,190 888
The mentor program boosted the profes-
June 110 1,173 107 1,305 944
sional morale and respect of both trained and
TOTAL 512 4,023 619 5,573 4,663
untrained teachers. By design the mentor-
*Numbers in parentheses are those for Bong County, as those from Nimba County
were not recorded during this time. ing program acknowledged and reinforced
the professionalism of Liberian teachers and
the accomplishments of the 120 mentors during thus instilled pride in their training and their
the 2000/01 school year. It should be noted training institutions. In many of the schools
that the actual number of teachers observed is surveyed, the mentors invited teachers from
much higher than these numbers, since educa- non-IRC-supported schools to participate in
tion officers were also responsible for observing the micro-workshops and model lessons. More
10 lessons per month. significantly, the mentor program attracted
untrained teachers to the profession despite
The LMOE Assistant Minister for Instruction
the low salary. It is important to note that volun-
felt the program had made a significant con-
teer teachers comprised an average of 50% of
tribution to the improvement of classroom
the teachers in the IRC schools. In perspective
performance and indicated that the Ministry
this means that of the roughly 1,500 teachers in
would have been interested in continuing the
the schools, 750 were volunteers. These volun-
program. The continuation of the mentoring
teers were totally paid for by the school and not
program following the IRC’s departure is uncer-
covered by government or IRC compensation.

Published 2002
It is unknown whether this level of volunteerism CHART 1: Percentage of Volunteer Teachers in Bong and Nimba Counties
is unique to the IRC-supported schools, as no
��
information is available in non-IRC-supported
��
schools.
When this issue was discussed during the

��
focus groups, the untrained teachers stated
that the mentoring program provided profes-
��
sional training, as well as providing a means ��
for them to continue to learn and possibly be
chosen for training at the government training
institutes such as Zorzor Rural Teacher Training ��
Institute (ZRTTI). Interestingly, the schools in
more rural Bong County had a higher percent-
��
age of volunteers.
��
��
TABLE 11: Matrix of Impact of Mentor Program

Improved the learning of Rise in the pass rate of students on the WAEC exam. If program was successful in IRC schools,
students consider expanding the program into non-
government-supported schools through
joint monthly workshops or further train-
ing of government staff.
Improved classroom Increased use of lesson plans and schemes of work as noted Books on teaching and teaching meth-
performance due to in focus groups. odologies distributed to schools and
increased preparation, resource centers.
delivery, use of teaching
aids
Improved relationships From focus groups with teachers and principals: Copies of peace education materials to
with students through • Decreased use of corporal punishment. Resource Centers.
improved classroom • Softer approach to students. Specific peace education materials repro-
management skills and duced for teachers’ use.
• Understood the difference between discipline and punish-
conflict resolution skills
ment.
• Impact in the community on domestic violence.
Created pride in the Presence of large numbers of volunteer teachers. Recording of skills taught and skills
profession of teaching and achieved in uncertified teachers.
attracted untrained teach- Certificates awarded for most improved/
ers into the profession best male and female teacher.

Published 2002
TABLE 11: Matrix of Impact of Mentor Program (continued)
Tensions between the Specific discussion in field memos regarding principals and Mentor incentive should be less than that
principal and mentor mentors being at the same incentive level. of the principal.
Confusion of teachers Difference between MOE and IRC scheme of work formats. Standardization of formats.
Increased workload for IRC staff working with the mentors and teachers were con- Mini-workshops should be limited to 45
mentors and for teachers cerned about mentors overburdening teachers with training minutes.
and monitoring.
Early Childhood Development Training/Support the ABC/KG curriculum, medium-range plan-

To improve the quality of preschool education, ning, developmental psychology of four- to
the IRC collaborated with the LMOE to initi- eight-year-olds, teaching aids and classroom
ate the training of preschool teachers and the discipline.
painting of murals in preschool classrooms. To complement these trainings, the IRC also ini-
Working with the LMOE ABC/KG specialists, tiated the painting of 35 preschool classrooms
materials and training were developed and in bright colors with early learning concepts
conducted for the IRC’s Education Officers. such as the letters of the alphabet, months of
The EOs then conducted four three-day train- the year, days of the week, numbers 1 through
ing workshops for 252 preschool teachers in 10 and basic hygiene.
November and December 2000, covering
TABLE 12: Matrix of Impact of ABC Program

Improved the quality of Teachers and principals stated: Training and written materials in activi-
ABC/KG teaching • Murals made the teaching environment more conducive ties to use with children.
for younger children.
• Varied teaching techniques by providing the teachers with
new methods.
• Made learning easier and more fun for students.
Increased community Equal rates of registration of boys and girls. Official opening of the ABC/KG classroom
interest in the school combined with registration and discussion
and possible increase in of the importance of girls’ education.
enrollment
Transfer of lessons from Peace education materials. Inclusion of child-to-child methodologies.
school into the com- Children in community observed teaching other children to
munity play “lion and palm tree.”
Created disparity between Not every school had a mural. Create a kit for parents and students to
schools create their own murals. These skills could
then be developed to create world maps.
Inadequate training Number of trainees in workshop and number of topics too Decrease size and scope of workshops.
many for optimal learning.

Published 2002
Resource Centers were the most popular resource reported
by teachers and students. It is questionable,
Using a donation of materials from the Sabre however, whether donated materials such as
Foundation, the IRC collaborated with the battery-operated magic pens, puppets and
LMOE’s Deputy Minister of Instruction to transi- books on tape will be used without training and
tion 15 school libraries into resource centers follow-up.
to support teacher preparation and student
research. Centrally located, each resource Enhanced image of the
center was intended to be a regional resource school and community
and serve the needs of a wider geographi- The existence of a resource center enhanced
cal area and not just its home school. Each the image of the school and the community. In
resource center was rehabilitated, furnished one focus group, students who had a choice of
with tables, chairs and bookshelves, and schools stated that the existence of a resource
equipped with teaching aids, reference mate- center was part of their reason for transferring
rials and educational games. Sabre-donated to that school. In some schools the concept of
materials were also distributed to the LMOE, the resource center had been totally embraced
the Teachers College at the University of Liberia by the school and community, with PTAs using
and through the IRC’s Sierra Leonian Refugee their income to buy specific books and commu-
education program. In the 2000/01 school nity members donating books. In a few cases,
year, the IRC complemented the distribution of the resource center was developing into a
materials with 14 two-day trainings for resource public library, with weekend hours and borrow-
center personnel and supervisory boards on the ing privileges for the community.
purpose of resource centers and their organiza-
tion. The use of the resource centers was also
reinforced in the already-mentioned one-day
training of the mentors.
Impacts of Resource Centers
Improved classroom preparation

and student learning
From focus groups with teachers and PTAs it
was learned that the resource centers were very
popular and were felt to have improved the
quality of education at the school. From review
of resource center records and observation, it
is clear that teachers were using the resources
for preparation, while students were using the
centers for both classroom assignments and
individual study. The World Book Encyclopedias

Published 2002
TABLE 13: Matrix of Impact of Resource Centers
Reconnected school to Community members had donated books to the resource Community reading groups.
community and increased center. Established system for checking out
community access to One school holding opening ceremony for the community. certain books
reading materials
Resource center open during weekends for community use.
Improve the quality of Students observed using resources. Development of student study aids, e.g.,
teaching and learning Record books indicate high usage by students and teachers. chemistry flashcards, etc.
Strategies to improve study and reference
skills.
Assessment of what other materials
students and teachers would like in the
resource center, e.g., set books, cyclostyle,
set of UNHCR Peace Education Books per
school.
Enhanced the reputation Increased reputation leads to more parents sending their The increased capacity of one school can
of the school within the children to school in their area as opposed to sending them to cause unneeded competition between
school and district urban areas. schools. Possibly identify strategies for
According to record book, teachers from other schools had more teachers from other schools to use
used the resource center. the resource center and build up the
reputation of the school district rather
than just one school.
Inspired schools without From observation schools without centers were allocating Small support grants could be given to
centers to create their space and renovating areas to create resource rooms. non-IRC schools to start resource centers,
own or a material exchange program between
IRC and non-IRC resource centers could
be developed.
Presence of teaching aids Some IRC staff felt that providing pre-made teaching aids Increased training in the preparation
discouraged teachers discouraged teachers from making their own. of teaching aids from locally available
from preparing their own materials and support.
Provision of books on how to make teach-
ing aids.
Increased the work expec- Focus group with teachers mentioned the difficulty of getting Modify the expectation of teachers using
tations for teachers to resource centers that were sometimes four hours away the resource centers to a certain geo-
walking by foot. graphical area.
Intimidated teachers with Observed that teachers and administrators did not know how Train teachers in teaching aids.
teaching aids they did not to use some materials or that some materials (tape recorders) Do not provide materials that are difficult
know how to use were too expensive to be entrusted to teachers or students. to use, unfamiliar or require additional
inputs, e.g., magic pen with batteries,
magnetic letters.

Published 2002
ASSISTANCE TO THE LIBERIAN FIGURE 3: Components of the LMOE “C” Level Certificate Program
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION Educational measurement and evaluation
Classroom management
Throughout the program, the IRC’s priority was
Development of teaching materials
to support the Ministry to reestablish itself and
to play an effective role in the school system. Education planning: schemes of work and lesson plans
As part of the IRC final assessment, Minister Counseling and psychology
of Education Dr. Evelyn Kandakai stated that Curriculum review and teaching techniques for:
the relationship had been very productive and • Language Arts
that she wished the IRC were able to remain • Mathematics
• Social Stucies
longer to continue developing the Liberian
• Science
Educational System.
Restarting of Zorzor Rural interim 8-week (later changed to 10 week) cur-

Teacher Training Institute riculum for all of the institutes, leading to a “C”
level certification. IRC specifically provided the
Given the critical lack of qualified teachers,
LMOE with copies of all of the training materi-
as part of its five-year reconstruction plan the
als and forms that had been developed in the
LMOE prioritized the reestablishment of the
refugee program. Two members of IRC Guinea
rural teacher-training college system. This was
staff traveled to participate in the two-week
an immense undertaking, as a curriculum had
workshop in July/August 1998. Some com-
to be developed, trainers and trainees selected,
ponents such as the IRC Teacher Observation
teaching and educational materials purchased,
Form were adopted without modification. This
and three teacher training centers rehabilitated
curriculum was then simultaneously imple-
for training and lodging of up to 300 trainees.
mented by the LMOE in each of the locations
To accomplish this, a consortium was formed
and to date more than 2000 teachers have
of the LMOE, UNICEF, UNHCR, IRC and ADRA.
graduated under this curriculum.
The IRC and ADRA, with funding from UNHCR,
took responsibility for the Zorzor Rural Teacher The first priority for the IRC in restarting ZRTTI
Training Institute in the northwest and Webu was the physical rehabilitation. In September
Rural Teacher Training Institute (WRTTI) in the 1998, under the guidance of the IRC and the
southeast. UNICEF supported the Ministry LMOE, GTZ undertook the rehabilitation of the
directly to reestablish the teacher-training insti- ZRTTI with funding from UNHCR. Later, the IRC
tute in Kakata Rural Teacher Training Institute complemented rehabilitation with the establish-
(KRTTI) near Monrovia. Another significant ment of a day care center and a resource area
contributor was WFP, which provided the bulk for teachers and students.
of the food for the trainees under its Food-for-
Training Program. Following rehabilitation, the IRC furnished the
center and provided educational and adminis-
While awaiting funding in 1998, all four orga- trative materials, as well as food and daily living
nizations supported the Ministry to develop an support for over 200 trainees. As part of the

Published 2002
consortium, the IRC also supported the LMOE The reasons for this are many. First, reestablish-
to select the staff and trainees, including the ing ZRTTI was one piece of a larger system and
development and procurement of a standard- relied on the participation and contribution of
ized entrance exam, trainer honorariums and the Ministry at the national, county and district
travel reimbursement. As part of the start-up, levels, as well as UNICEF, UNHCR and ADRA.
the IRC tried to attract IRC Liberia refugee staff This involved time-consuming coordination
to be trainers in ZRTTI, but that resulted in only meetings and frequent delays. Second, unclear
one trainer being hired. When asked about lines of supervision and accountability of ZRTTI
this, the refugee trainers stated that Liberia staff was a constant source of tension for the
was not safe to return to (which proved true in IRC with the LMOE. The LMOE Monrovia could
Lofa County where ZRTTI is located) and that only supervise ZRTTI occasionally, and there-
they lacked confidence in the LMOE to pay a fore much of the practical management fell by
livable salary. Additionally, the IRC was unable default to the IRC. The ZRTTI staff, as LMOE
to state how long it was going to be able to employees, were not accountable to the IRC,
support the LMOE or when the handover of even though the IRC was paying honorariums.
ZRTTI would occur.24 The first cycle of trainees As an example, following the graduation of
started in January 1999, followed by another students, the Center Manager and other staff
in May. Training was not resumed in the fall of abandoned the campus to the IRC before all of
1999 due to insecurity in Lofa County. In March the end-of-term paperwork and accounting was
2000 training resumed amid security concerns. completed.
The center was looted by government troops in
Impacts of Reestablishment of
September 2000, unfortunately marking an end
Government Teacher Training Institute
to the IRC’s involvement.
Increased the number of trained teachers
Given that the institute was not running at
the start of the program, it was difficult to TABLE 14: ZRTTI Training and Trainees
anticipate the significant management train- Training Dates Female Male Total
ing required by the ZRTTI/LMOE staff. Through Teachers
daily mentoring and monitoring, the IRC sup- Trained
ported the staff’s capacity in management, 1998/99 Jan.–March 39 166 205
budgeting, accountability and financial docu- May–July 36 200 236
mentation.25 While re-starting ZRTTI was only 1999/00 March–May 43 196 239
a small part of the IRC’s larger educational Total Trained 118 562 680
intervention, it was described as the “the most
The reestablishment of Zorzor Teacher Training
complicated and time consuming portion of the
College increased the total number of trained
first year of the program.”26
24
BPRM Final Program Report, for Period June 1 1998 to August 31, 1999. International Rescue Committee. Liberia.
25
Education Program Report, June 2000. International Rescue Committee.
26
Internal IRC memo from Sue Dwyer [n.d.].

Published 2002
teachers in Northern Liberia, as can be seen The importance of the IRC’s supporting role
in the text box. The IRC actively sought to for the LMOE was not fully recognized within
increase equal numbers of female trainees; the IRC. In 2000, due to the closure of ZRTTI,
however, even after the entrance requirements the IRC restructured the administration of the
were lowered in their favor, it was difficult to education program and moved the Education
find candidates. Follow-up interviews con- Coordinator to Ganta. Coincidently, around
ducted by IRC staff revealed that many women this time the education coordination meetings
were not interested, because they could make stopped and the IRC’s role nationally became
more money selling in the markets and did not more peripheral. At the close of the program,
want to depend upon the inconsistent govern- the IRC’s Country Director and senior educa-
ment salary.27 tion staff, while having a close relationship with
the Assistant Ministers, had not met with the
Contributed to the re-starting of Liberia’s
Minister of Education, with direct implications
national teacher training system
for the IRC’s program handover.
Even though ZRTTI is at the time of this report
inoperable, Liberia’s teacher training system Provided stability and boosted
morale of LMOE
continues to operate and train teachers. At the
time of this report, both Webu and Kakata Rural While difficult to document, the reestablish-
Teacher Training Colleges continue to use sys- ment of a major government institution like
tems established during the consortium. the Rural Teacher Training Institutes can be
envisioned as signal of stability and the rees-
Enhanced collaboration and coordination
tablishment of the Liberian government, which
At the national level, the IRC played an instru- in turn would contribute to the refugees’
mental role in supporting the LMOE to chair return. Reestablishing the ZRTTI and the other
weekly coordination meetings of the NGOs teacher training colleges significantly boosted
and UN agencies involved in education. While the morale of the LMOE and its image in the
difficult to attribute to the IRC alone, IRC staff rural areas. Even though ZRTTI was forced to
noted that the planning, meeting management, close due to the fighting in Lofa, LMOE staffs in
project management and organizational skills Monrovia were visibly proud that the institutes
of the LMOE staff improved over time. The had been reopened.
meetings primarily coordinated the re-opening
of the teacher training colleges, but they also CEO/DEO Training and Support
served as a forum to discuss other educational The IRC also sought to build the capacity
issues. For example, as a result of these meet- of and establish good working relationships
ings, in the second year of the program the between school administrators and the local
IRC and ADRA coordinated their selection and Ministry officials. To accomplish this, the LMOE
ordering of school support materials for the CEOs and DEOs were supported to train all
next academic year. of the school supervisors and principals under
27
David Walker, IRC communication, April 2002.

Published 2002
their administration. For the first two years, year, incentive payments were stopped and
the IRC supported the DEOs and CEOs to the government officials were paid a small amount
training program. Following each Training of to cover costs for attending IRC trainings.
Trainers (TOT) conducted by the LMOE, the
TABLE 16: Contents of DEO/CEO Kit
IRC supported the CEOs and DEOs to conduct
workshops for all of the school supervisors and Quantity
principals in their respective areas (irrespective Carbon Paper 1 packet
of whether these were IRC-supported schools Copy Paper 2 reams
or not). The TOT workshops proved to be very Correction Fluid 1
productive and during the second year were Eraser 1
attended by MOE Assistant Ministers and CEOs Highlighter 1
from other parts of Liberia. In the third year of Manila Folders 10
the program, the IRC wished to further increase Masking Tape 1 roll
the responsibility of the LMOE to design and Paper Clips 1 packet
organize the workshops. However, due to a Bottle of Paper Glue 1
lack of response regarding this proposal from Pencils 1
January 2000, the IRC directly initiated the train-
Pens (blue/black) 5
ing for principals and school administrators.
Post-its 1
FIGURE 4: Topics Covered During Trainings Ruler 1
Stapling Pins 1
Functioning as an administrative team.
Yellow Legal Pads 1
Establishing viable record.
Registration, promotion and evaluation of students.
Impacts of CEO/DEO/Principal Training
Basic bookkeeping and financial management.
Teaching aids. Enhanced the management of the
Instructional supervision. schools and Ministry of Education
Types of administrative supervision.
Collaboration with other NGOs.
In the absence of any other training from the
LMOE, the training of the principals, DEOs and
TABLE 15: CEO/DEO Training of Trainers Program CEOs improved the management of the indi-
1998/99 1999/00 2000/1 vidual schools, as well as of the decentralized
CEO/DEO Participants 59 49 0 government departments. More specifically,
the training clarified the roles, responsibili-
Workshops Conducted 16 13 0
ties and expectations for the different actors.
Number of Principals 445 507 132
Trained Additionally, the training provided a common
framework for monitoring the schools by IRC,
the DEOs and CEOs. As an additional benefit,
In addition to training, the DEOs and CEOs were
the trainings also reinforced support networks
provided monetary incentives and kits of admin-
among principals.
istrative materials. During the 1999/2000 school

Published 2002
Reinforced correct roles and relationship
between principals and government officials
By supporting the DEOs and CEOs to conduct
the training, the IRC reinforced the roles of
the LMOE officials as supervisors, trainers and
monitors. Additionally, while the IRC was not
supporting all of the schools represented at the
training, the example of the IRC’s monitoring
set an expectation of the LMOE officials.
TABLE 17: Matrix of Impact of CEO/DEO/Principal Training

Increased the skills and From workshop reports, DEOs/CEOs reported a better DEOs and CEOs provided with their own
confidence of CEOs and understanding of how to conduct classroom observations, budget to address issues.
DEOs to perform their classroom scheduling and how to address overstaffing. Provision of motorbikes for DEOs.
jobs CEOs/ DEOs collaborated with the IRC to design and organize
principal training.
By example, the IRC mentored the DEOs in the performance of
their monitoring responsibilities.
Improved and standard- Improved and reinforced relations between principals, CEOs/ CEOs and DEOs supported to design their
ized school management DEOs. Collaboratively IRC was able to identify problems and own training of school staff and hold
bring them to the attention of the principal. regular meetings.
Standardized monitoring of school records of student disci- Standardization could have been further
pline, teacher attendance, teacher discipline and visitors. enhanced by IRC and LMOE officials keep-
ing collective monitoring files that later
would become the property of the Ministry.
Established unrealistic CEO stated that the training expectations for monitoring Provide trainers with appropriate support,
expectations of DEOs/ would not be fulfilled. such as office supplies and transporta-
CEOs Unrealistic expectations caused tensions between IRC staff tion.
and CEOs/DEOs.
IRC trainings set the IRC staff reported too many people, too many topics not Shorter trainings with fewer participants
precedence for large covered in sufficient depth. held at the district or county level.
trainings Insufficient follow-up on non-IRC-supported schools. Support for follow-up in non-IRC schools
included.
Inappropriate roles for Training the CEOs/DEOs as trainers caused them to ask for Payment of CEOs and DEOs possibly could
CEOs/DEOs training fees. have gone through the Ministry.
DEOs being paid by teachers for inclusion in training.

Published 2002
portation needs were often low priority, which
Program Support frequently caused materials to be delivered late.
Restarting an educational system requires a This situation was compounded by late donor
large amount of material input. The accompa- support and Liberia’s long rainy season. With the
nying table shows the materials provided for ending of UNHCR funding during the 2000/01
all of the program components over the three school year, the IRC rented trucks for distribution.
years. Distribution of such large amounts of
materials can be viewed as nothing less than FURNITURE
heroic given the logistical constraints of Liberia. After the war, most of the schools lacked even
basic furniture. The absence of desks for stu-
TABLE 18: Material Support Given by IRC Education Program
dents, teachers’ desks and chairs, and office
1998/99 1999/00 2000/01 Total furniture such as bookshelves made the schools
Student Kits 25,332 37,909 46,632 109,873 non-functional. During the first two years of
Teacher Kits 1,446 1,571 1,725 4,742 the project, furniture for Lofa was made in two
School centralized locations up country with materials
Administration 136 159 126 421 transported from Monrovia. Each center was
Kits
provided with unassembled wood, plus nails,
Textbook Sets 285 0 138 423
varnish and glue. Bong and Nimba Counties
National
1,000 0 0 1,000 received assembled pieces directly from car-
Curricula
pentry vendors in Monrovia. This process of
DEO Kits 18 18 17 53
desk assembly and/or delivery was incredibly
CEO Kits 3 3 2 8
problematic, as many of the desks were made
Benches 2,537 5,913 884 9,916
of uncured wood and split, the finished furni-
Bench
582 582 ture was bulky to transport and, when it arrived,
Components
typically damaged, and the large amounts of
Blackboards 356 28 95 479
timber overburdened the IRC’s limited ware-
Teacher’s
470 622 0 1092 house space. As a solution, in May 2001 the
Desks
IRC initiated a pilot project where school PTAs
Teacher’s
470 616 0 1086 would produce desks locally with materials
Chairs
Bookshelves/ going directly from the supplier to the school.
0 95 5 100
Cupboards This solved many of the previously described
Girls’ Social problems.
102 0 0 102
Club Kits
Resource Initially, desks were stenciled with “UNHCR/
0 14 14 28 IRC”; this, however, was discontinued because
Center Kits
it caused confusion as to who owned the desks.
As an implementing partner of UNHCR, the In some cases, schools expected the IRC to
IRC had to rely upon GTZ for transportation of maintain and repair them. To alleviate this
materials. Given that the priority of UNHCR was confusion, the IRC provided each school with a
to return refugees to Liberia, the IRC’s trans-

Published 2002
metal stencil of the school’s name to mark the Impacts of School Furniture
school’s desks.
Enhanced the quality of students’ learning
It was interesting to note that senior high
Student desks were integral in making the
school students were required to sit at an
schools operational and enhancing the qual-
individual desk/chair to take the WAEC exams.
ity of the students’ learning environment. The
While these were not provided by the IRC,
use of local furniture production improved the
when school officials were asked about this,
quality of the furniture but also increased the
it was stated that they were provided “by the
schools’ and communities’ ownership of the
school.” This probably means that students
desks.
sitting for the exams had to also pay for the
school furniture. Knowing that there were many The impact of the furniture production could
older students learning together with younger have been increased by using it as a skills build-
children, many of the classrooms did not have ing/apprenticeship program for youth.
chairs suitable for older students, which possi-
bly served as an obstacle for students’ entering
or continuing schooling.
TABLE 19: Matrix of Impact of Educational Material Support

Increased Enrollment DEOs, CEOs and PTAs stated in focus groups and in work- Assessment of furniture usage and needs.
shops that the presence of school furniture increased student Senior high students needed combo
enrollment.28 chair/desks in order to sit for exams.
Made learning more Students did not have to sit on floor or rocks and had a flat Additionally, this might have identified the
conducive for learners surface to write on. needs of students with disabilities, and
and increased students’ misdistribution.
Different sizes of furniture were provided for younger and
self-esteem older students.
Decreased the burden for Students did not have to carry chairs from home.
the students, family and Parents and school did not have to buy school furniture.
school
Lack of ownership of Schools requested IRC to repair the furniture. Local production of desks by PTAs should
furniture have been started earlier. In addition to
Varying quality Poor quality burdened the school with repair for furniture. desks, this would have provided an oppor-
Observed stacks of broken furniture awaiting repair. tunity for creating apprenticeships and
skill training for out-of-school youth.
Migration of students Overcrowding. Provision of furniture to a larger number
from non-IRC-supported Tension between schools. of schools.
school Limit enrollment to students and families
that live within the school catchment
area.
R28
Report on the Planning and Evaluation Workshop convened by IRC on March 29, 2000, in Ganta, Nimba County.

Published 2002
STUDENT, TEACHER AND SCHOOL KITS TABLE 20: Components of IRC School Kits
Item Qty Item Qty
Following the war, all government schools
ABC/KG ball size 3 1 Manila Folder 10
lacked basic educational materials such as Fasteners
exercise books, chalk, pens and paper. Often
ABC/KG ball size 4 1 Masking Tape 1 roll
teachers and students would have to purchase
Carbon Paper 1 Paper Clips 1 packet
these materials with their own money or attend (small)
class without them. To address this, the IRC Calculator 1 Paper Clips 1 packet
distributed pre-packaged sets of materials to (large)
students and teachers, as shown in the accom- Chalk (colored) 2 boxes Paper Glue 1
panying text boxes. Three types of student kits Blackboard 1 Pencils Colored 12
were distributed for ABC/KG, Grades 1–6 and Compass packets
Grades 7–12. Plastic carrying folders served Blackboard 1 Pens (blue/black) 5
a dual purpose of packaging the materials Protractor
and providing a means for protecting learning Blackboard Ruler 1 Pens (red) 2
materials. Each set of materials was pre-assem- Blackboard Set 1 Hole Punch 1
bled in the IRC warehouses and then prepared Square
for distribution at each school by IRC staff. Copy books (96 10 Poster Sheets 10
pages)
Supporting teachers to prepare for class was a Correction Fluid 1 Post-its 1
priority during the program start-up, and one Wax crayons 1 Football Pump 1
set of textbooks (see textbox) was distributed Drawing Pad 1 Ruler, Hard 1
to each school. As further support, the IRC Plastic
reprinted and distributed copies of the Liberian Envelopes 1 packet Scissors 1
National Curriculum that was out of print. Each Erasers 1 Stapling pins 1
year of the program also distributed kits of Felt markers 4 packets Volleyball 1
administrative and recreational materials to Footballs 2 Volleyball net 1
each school. Highlighter 1 Yellow Legal 1
Pads
Manila Folder 10

Published 2002
TABLE 21: Components of Textbook Sets Impacts of Student, Teacher and School Kits
Textbook Set (32 books each) Increased quality of learning
Science Books 1-6
In focus groups, parents, teachers and students
Language Arts Books 1-6
all commented that the distribution of materi-
Mathematics Books 1-6
als increased the quality of learning within the
Social Studies Books 1-6
school.
Social Studies Books 1-6
Teacher’s Edition (Science) Attracted students and
Atlas teachers to the school
The distribution of materials attracted children
Table 22: Components of Teacher’s Kits
in school. In many instances, parents sent their
Quantity children to school to pick up their materials.
Blackboard duster 1 Similarly, the distribution of materials served as
White chalk (100 sticks) 1 box (not shown) incentive for teachers.
Copybooks 8
Decreased financial burden
Eraser 1
Pens (blue/black) 3 The distribution of materials made educa-
Pens (red) 2 tion more affordable and decreased the cost
Pencils 2 of providing education. The distribution of
Plan book 1
student kits decreased the financial burden of
those who were paying school fees. Similarly,
Plastic Carrying Folder 1
the distribution of materials to the teachers and
Rollbook/copybook 1
schools in some cases decreased the financial
Dictionary 1
burden of providing education.
Ruler 1
Program Note
Table 23: Components of Student Kits
Item Kits The impact of the material distribution could
ABC/KG Grds 1–6 Grds 7–8 have been enhanced if students, teachers and
Exercise 54-page 1 3 school administrators had been involved in the
Books 96-page 3 6 design of their respective kits. For example,
Pens 3 3 students stated that they would have preferred
Slate 1 1 more exercise books rather than pens, pencils
Chalk 5 sticks
and geometry kits. Teachers and principals
stated overwhelmingly that the amount of
Sponge 1
chalk was too small and that they would have
Ruler 1 1
preferred more chalk rather than a new duster.
Pencil 1
Similarly, the distribution of one set of Post-its
Eraser 1
and masking tape could have been evaluated.
Plastic Carrying Folder 1

Published 2002
All of these suggestions potentially could have
decreased the IRC’s purchasing and distribution
burden.
TABLE 24: Matrix of Impact of School Materials

Increased Enrollment Stated in focus groups with DEOs, CEOs and PTAs. More targeted materials spread out to a
Parents told their children to go to school to get school sup- larger number of schools.
plies.
Local Empowerment At the end of the program, PTAs were given responsibility to Earlier provision of materials to PTAs to
oversee the distribution of materials. distribute with monitoring.
Improved Teaching and Students, teachers and schools were prepared for class and Lack of set literature books for secondary
Learning learning. students (Things Fall Apart, Animal Farm,
West African Poetry and Verse). Distribute
as classroom sets to the schools.
Reinforced Equity of Teachers stated that the distributions were important Include a human rights component to
Students and Teachers because they treated all students equally. distribution activities to reinforce equity
among children.
Unsustainable and IRC staff stated that it was unsustainable and created a Identify strategies to decrease the cost
creates a feeling of feeling of dependency. of school materials. For example, PTAs
dependency could buy exercise books at cost from the
IRC to sell to students at a cheaper rate
than local shops. The IRC would provide
the transport costs, or connect schools
with UNICEF/ MOE/CREDO initiative to
distribute textbooks at cost to schools.
This should be done in a way that does
not provide further barriers for the most
vulnerable children to access school.
Negatively impacted sur- Students and teachers migrated from non-IRC schools, caus- Inequity among schools is unavoidable.
rounding schools ing some degree of overcrowding.
Utilization and need Students commented that they would have preferred more Assessment and subsequent modification
exercise books instead of pens, pencils and sharpeners. of student, teacher and school kits.
Significant lack of chalk for teachers and for preschool
students.

Published 2002
Payment of Incentives for Teacher The payment of IRC incentives was irregu-
and Other Education Personnel lar throughout the program due to late, or
reluctant, donor support for paying teachers,
TABLE 25: Example of Incentive Schedule and Payment for May especially in the last year. In months when
2001
incentives were not provided, the EOs noted
Position Bong Nimba TOTAL Monthly Total
that they did not receive the kind of coopera-
Incentive U.S.D.
tion they used to receive from teachers when
Principal 58 68 126 15 1,890
they were being paid cash incentives. During
Mentor 51 67 118 15 1,770
Teacher these times, the IRC identified many different
Teacher 530 721 1251 10 12,510
strategies to maintain the morale of the teach-
ers including:
TOTAL $16,170
1. increasing the awareness of PTAs about the
In order to maintain the morale and coop-
issue of teacher payment,
eration of educational staff, the IRC provided
small cash payments (“incentives”) to teachers, 2. continuing the supply of school materials to
school administrators, mentors and CEOs/ ensure that teachers had the basic materials
DEOs to complement the low and irregular to do their job and did not have to buy them
salary of the LMOE. The IRC had identified on their own,
teachers’ salaries as an obstacle early in the 3. increasing training of teachers and
repatriation process and was seeking strategies
that not only supported the teachers but also 4. increasing the visibility of exemplary or
established the correct managerial relationships improved teachers through school- and dis-
between government teachers and the LMOE. trict-wide recognition and awards.
In the original 1998/99 program design, the IRC Impacts of Incentives
had decided not to pay incentives in order to
Stabilized the schools
preserve this relationship. However, after a few
months it became apparent that this situation During the final assessment, the PTAs, the
was untenable, as teachers and school admin- teachers and the students consistently iden-
istrators were not attending school regularly tified the incentive programs as one of the
and were hesitant to participate in training. key IRC activities to increase the quality of
Subsequently the IRC, with support from the education. From IRC staff perspectives, the
LMOE, instituted an incentive program to incentives were essential to keeping teachers
supplement teachers’ income to a livable wage motivated and in the classroom. It is interest-
rather than a salary. The incentive scale was ing to consider that the payment of incentives
purposefully set at a low level to avoid con- was “preserving” if not “protecting” the
flicts between the IRC and non-IRC-supported governmental educational capacity by keep-
schools, and in order to reach out to a larger ing teachers in the profession and preventing
number of education staff. them from migrating to the private schools and
shielding the LMOE from strikes.

Published 2002
Contributed to the local economy ties and restarting the economy. For example,
as teachers had money they would pay for
TABLE 26: IRC Incentive Payments
rebuilding houses or buy materials for their own
School Average Months Total Incentives personal consumption or to start a business.
Year Number Paid Paid Payment
Additionally, this money could, in turn, support
1998/99 1,360 3 months $41,385 non-teachers to pay their children’s school fees.
1999/2000 1,368 6 months $94,260
2001/01 1,365 6 months $91,970 “It has become apparent to IRC in this project
TOTAL $227,615 that the primary issue to the provision of quality
education in Liberia is both teacher training
The IRC’s incentive program put more than a
and capacity building within the MOE, but just
quarter of a million dollars (see textbox) over
three years into more than 100 communities in as important is the retention of qualified and
Liberia. By extrapolation, this supported edu- trained teachers.”
cational services in the schools but also played BPRM Final Program Report:
a role in drawing resources to these communi- For Period June 1, 1998 to August 1999
TABLE 27: Matrix of Impact of Teacher Incentive Program

Improved Teacher Stated by CEOs/DEOs and PTA members at Planning and Include teacher incentives in program
Motivation and Evaluation Workshop, March 2000, as well as in focus groups. budget and pay teachers on a regular
Attendance Increased receptiveness of teachers for training as stated by basis.
IRC staff.
Increased professional- Increased respect of teachers for their superiors and Use discussions or distribution of teacher
ism increased knowledge of “unprofessional practices” stated support materials as a means of linking
by CEOs/DEOs and PTA members at Planning and Evaluation payment of teachers and professionalism.
Workshop, March 2000, as well as in focus groups.
Attracted trained and Created hope for the possibility of becoming an MOE teacher Recruit motivated students completing
untrained teachers to the or being selected by the LMOE for training. secondary school.
profession
Increased tensions inside Increased pressure on DEOs/CEOs to transfer teachers from Use of a standardized scale of incentives.
and outside the IRC non-IRC schools into IRC-supported schools. Write incentives into the proposals for a
Irregularity of payment affected teacher morale. set period of time.
Increase understanding of staff and
teachers that resumption of incentives is
non-negotiable.
Unsustainable Increased burden on schools upon IRC’s departure—either Other forms of incentives could be used,
schools find a way to pay the teachers or they will leave. such as tools.
Made regular income the reason for teaching rather than
interest in teaching.

Published 2002
IRC included record-keeping in the Training
Protection of Trainers program for the CEOs and DEOs.
In initiating the Liberia program, the IRC sought Headcounts were also conducted periodically
to use educational support as a means of in IRC-supported schools to ensure accuracy.
monitoring and protecting the refugees during
the repatriation and reintegration process. This The intensive monitoring of schools played a
occurred through detailed monitoring of school significant role in improving the management
statistics, as well as the initiation of Girls’ Social and functioning of IRC- and non-IRC-supported
Clubs to support girls’ attendance in school. schools. As mentioned earlier, by example the
IRC established a standard of school monitor-
MONITORING ing that was emulated by the LMOE, DEOs
and CEOs. Additionally, head teachers noted
Regular visits to all of the IRC schools was a key
that the private-school teachers adopted the
element in building the capacity of the school
“IRC method” of keeping daily role counts on
administration, the PTAs, and the teachers.
the blackboard. It should be noted that the
Through these visits, EOs were able to con-
IRC’s emphasis on twice monthly headcounts
stantly reinforce good practices and suggest
appeared to be a holdover from the Guinea
solutions. From the IRC’s assessment of staff
program, where if a refugee school fell below
at the end of the project, 94% of the staff felt
a certain number of students in relation to the
that monitoring activities were a major strength
teachers, the school was closed.
of the IRC program, and 74% felt that results
obtained though monitoring were useful in The IRC played a notable role in informing
designing education program activities. But not the LMOE of administrative problems in rural
all felt that the skills of monitoring forms had schools that the CEOs and DEOs were unable
been transferred to school personnel. to monitor. In these cases, the CEOs/DEOs
often accompanied IRC staff to the school to
The IRC initiated an in-depth system of data
solve the problem. Additionally, through the
collection from the schools to monitor the
IRC’s monitoring of the schools, some system-
conditions of the children, teachers and admin-
wide problems were addressed, such as:
istration within each school. Each month,
schools submitted (1) a principal’s report on • Teacher/Student Ratios: Using collected
teachers’ attendance, (2) a girls’ absentee school statistics, the IRC initiated discussions
tracking form, (3) a girls’ drop-out form and (4) with the LMOE on teacher allocation based
a comprehensive monthly statistics sheet. The upon Ministry standards for student/teacher
last was a monthly compilation of student and ratios. Prior to this exercise, some schools
teacher attendance broken down by grade, sex had one teacher teaching six students in the
and refugee/non-refugee status. All of these upper class, while the lower classes had more
forms were compiled by county on a monthly than 60. Discussion led to teacher transfers
basis by the IRC EOs. To ensure the accurate and reallocation of teaching duties in many
compilation of the statistics at the schools, the schools.

Published 2002
• Students dropping out during second term material support could have been provided to
due to lack of school fees: During January– monitor trends at the community and district
April 200l, the IRC noted a steady decrease levels. As an example, schools and individual
in student enrollment due to the inability of classes could have posted and maintained
parents to pay school fees during the season graphs of attendance within their schools; these
of low food and planting. To address this could then be reviewed by the PTAs and LMOE
issue, the IRC held a joint meeting with the officials. Similarly, schools near the offices of
CEOs/DEOs in Bong and Nimba Counties to the LMOE could have been sponsored to graph
discuss decreasing enrollment and proposed county and district results. Information is power
the suspension of school fees for registered and the interpretation of the information in
students until the end of the present semes- many cases leads to communities taking action
ter. The DEOs agreed that keeping students on the issues themselves.
out of school for non-payment was against
As a side note, school data in Liberia was a
the wishes of the LMOE and requested that
means of accessing resources both for the
“IRC report any principals who engaged in
schools and the government officials. It was
this practice”.30 [IRC] EOs were given the
reported that many schools kept two atten-
mandate to insist that principals let students
dance registers. One would register high
back into school.”
attendance numbers to show World Food
Discussion Program and the IRC, to increase the amount
of food or educational materials provided. The
While great effort was put into the collection
second book would show lower attendance
of statistics (school staff joked that “IRC” stood
records to decrease the education tax on stu-
for “International Record Collection”), their
dent registration fees paid to the LMOE CEOs
relationship to the protection of children and
and DEOs. While WFP and LMOE occasionally
communities was weak. In most IRC monthly
conducted headcounts, the IRC was the only
reports, statistics were compiled at a district
organization that conducted them on a regular
or county level, with limited analysis for larger
basis. Ideally, a centralized database should
trends other than comparing overall statistics to
have been developed to allow for more accu-
the previous month.
rate and centralized planning and to enable the
How much interpretation of school statistics payment of LMOE officials. Possibly this might
was done at the community and government also have led to a discussion of accountability
level is difficult to ascertain. For example, girls of how the education tax was collected and
who stopped attending school were recorded how the money was used.
on the girls’ tracking sheet with the reason,
which was typically pregnancy. It is not clear
whether these girls were encouraged to return
to school once they had delivered. Training and
30
Internal IRC Memo. RE: Feedback from joing IRC/CEO/DEO Meeting on Monday, April 16, 2001. From: Jonathan to Deborah, C.D.

Published 2002
GIRLS’ SOCIAL CLUBS TABLE 29: Top Reasons Why Girls Drop Out of School (Girls’ Social
Club Survey, 2000)
To address the educational inequalities of girls Bong Nimba
and boys and the high drop-out of girls, the IRC Pregnancy 89% 100%
initiated the Girls’ Social Clubs (GSCs) in the Lack of Support 51% 38%
1998/99 school year, based upon experience
Outside Demands 37% 2%
in the IRC Guinea program. The objective of
High Fees 34% 55%
these clubs was to increase the attendance and
Sickness 29% 58%
retention of girls in school by supporting activi-
Transfers 26% 18%
ties that girls enjoy, as well as offering a venue
Bush Schools 14% 11%
for girls to socialize. Each of the GSCs was
composed of an elected chair, vice chair, secre- Marriage 9% 0%
tary, treasurer and an interested female teacher Academic Demands 3% 0%
sponsor. Most of the GSC activities focused Peer Pressure 3% 0%
around materials provided in the GSC kits—a Laziness 3% 0%
large wooden lockable box contained materi-
To better inform the development of the GSC
als to support baking, embroidery/crocheting,
program, the IRC conducted two surveys, one
arts, agriculture, games and sports. Baking
in 1998/99 and a second in October 2000. The
was the most popular activity, as it taught the
earlier survey identified the primary reasons for
girls a skill that they could use to earn money
dropouts as being the operation of traditional
as well as use in the home. A few of the girls
bush schools in Bong County and lack of school
stated that they paid their school fees by sell-
fees in Nimba.31 When followed up in 2000
ing baked goods. Similarly, agriculture projects
(see results in textbox), both counties identi-
were primarily used to generate income for the
fied pregnancy as the primary reason for girls
clubs so they would not be reliant upon the IRC
not being able to attend school, which is in line
for income. In addition to the activities from
with a larger Liberian-wide survey conducted
the kits, different GSCs performed different
by the Forum for African Women in Education
activities including peer counseling, clean-up
(FAWE).
campaigns, debates and home visits.
To provide additional support to the GSC pro-
TABLE 28: 2001 GSC Participation
gram, a “Women’s Commission” in July 1999
Bong Nimba
was created of women working within the IRC
Percentage GSC Participation 39% 43%
to monitor the impact of all activities assisting
Girls Registered in GSC 1,394 2,421 girls. In August they distributed 500 t-shirts with
Active Members 858 1862 slogans promoting girls’ education. By October,
Total Number of Girls in School 2,228 4,321 37% and 43% of the girls in IRC schools in
Bong and Nimba were, respectively, members
31
BPRM Final Program Report, For Period June 1998, to August 31, 1999. International Rescue Committee. Liberia

Published 2002
of a GSC.32 These activities were enhanced by These workshops focused on life skills such as
four three-day workshops between October self-esteem, goal-setting, decision-making and
and December 1999 for 193 sponsors and Girls’ leadership.
Social Clubs Leaders in Lofa, Bong and Nimba.
An unexpected outcome of the song and
These workshops covering health education
drama competitions was the formation of GSC
and leadership were favorably received and
associations. Initially, these associations origi-
motivated the girls and their leaders.
nated between two districts in Bong County.
TABLE 30: Top Activities of Interest in GSC (GSC Survey, October With the facilitation of the Girls’ Social Club
2000) Deputy Managers, this association traveled to a
Activity Bong Nimba few IRC-supported schools with GSCs in Nimba
Baking 91% 92% County. As a result of these meetings, a Girls’
Sewing 65% 52%
Social Club Association was formed in Nimba
County as well. In August 2001, it wrote its con-
Agriculture 24% 17%
stitution and elected its officers. It will initiate
Tie and Dye 6% 0%
its activities in only one district in the county,
Crocheting 0 31%
but its services will extend to other districts
Embroidery 6% 0
once its role becomes established.
Sports and Games 0 2%
Discussion
In December 2000, the IRC hired two Girls’
Social Club Development Managers for Bong Much of the tone for the GSCs was set out by
and Nimba Counties. One of their first activities the distribution of GSC Kits in 1998/99, which
was to expand the successful GSC Song and seemed to constitute more a psychosocial sup-
Drama Competition. By March 2001, football port than a means to support girls to attend
matches and song and drama competitions had school. Minimal training for IRC staff and spon-
been organized in all of the districts in Bong soring schools on the purpose of Girls’ Social
and Nimba Counties. These events consisted Clubs compounded this lack of program clarity.
of presentations by the GSCs featuring song, In an IRC training drama, an Education Officer
drama and cultural performances based on the was shown as being very busy visiting schools
importance of girls’ education. Based upon the and delivering Girls’ Social Club Kits, with a
momentum of these activities, the local radio principal begging him to “educate us on the
station, Radio Ganta, began to broadcast bi- use of the materials.” Once the GSCs were
weekly news of girls’ activities and recordings of formed, much of the program’s focus shifted
different GSC songs. District-level competitions to replacing the kits’ consumable items either
were completed in July. PTA members and by the IRC or through income generation. The
DEOs lent active support to these endeavors. In latter trend is cause for concern, considering
March, the IRC conducted four two-day work- the girls could have used these resources to
shops for 172 GSC chairladies and sponsors. support themselves through school.
32
Girls Social Club Survey, October 2000.

Published 2002
IRC local and international staff throughout the Special female scholarship award scheme d)
program recognized the struggling vision of the Introduction of reproductive health training
GSC program and found it difficult to change
and health talks for Upper Elementary students
the established program. The staff’s under-
e) encouraging micro-credit programs in
standings of what needed to be done were
clearly identified many times both through visits IRC operating areas to reduce poverty and
from NY and through internal review, as seen encourage education.
in the accompanying text box. With the arrival
Mass education campaigns to be organized
of a new Program Coordinator in the 2000/01
school year, the program’s focus shifted to com- at PTA meetings and to target parents whose
munity awareness of the importance of girls’ influence is crucial in motivating girls’
education. These activities were solely imple- attendance.
mented by the GSC members and could have
Encourage sporting activities amongst
been enhanced through linkages with the PTAs
to undertake information campaigns within girls—interclass and interschool days. Organize
their village of parents, as well as community, special days called ‘Girls’ Education Day’ each
religious and spiritual leaders. semester.
Female Resource personnel to give talks on the

“Strategies identified by EOs and
importance of girls’ education on those days.
AEMs to address girls’ absenteeism/
dropout rate: Reduce Girls’ Social Club activities to only
activities like culture, kickball games, singing
EOs AEMs to liaise with local MOE staff,
and use the money for other supplies to support
community leaders, personalities to raise
other schemes and Girls’ Education Day.
awareness of parents on the importance of
Strategies to Use in Order to Improve Girls’
girls’ education, the roles as parents in keeping Attendance and Encourage Teachers to Remain in
girls in school, the influence of traditional bush School in the Absence of Cash Incentives, by Nimba
Team. To: David Walker, August 26, 2000.
schools and the use of girls on the farm and in
the market.
Unlike the programs in Guinea, GSCs did not
Use of award system—certificate, packages,
focus on reproductive health, though it still
various prizes to be presented on special remains a critical need of the girls. An FAWE
occasions for special qualities such as survey found that 80% of the parents did not
academic performance, regularity in school, discuss sex with the children, stating that it was
most disciplined, the best kickball player, prohibited by custom, an abuse to parents and
elders and shameful to discuss sex with chil-
the best singer, etc to encourage the school
dren. The survey also found that the knowledge
attendance of female students. of the prevention of pregnancy through birth

Published 2002
control remains minimal, with children receiv-
ing most of their information about sex from
their friends (70.6%), school (14.6%), family
(9.6%) and radio (5.4%).33 In Bong and Nimba
Counties, the same survey found that roughly
80% of the 184 girls surveyed both in and out
of school did not use any form of contracep-
tion. Focus groups with GSC members found
that girls in urban areas were able to access
contraception locally and used a combination
of the pill, “cycle” method and abstinence.
Possibly, Young Men’s Social Clubs could also
have been started to emphasize that pregnancy It is difficult to comment on the girls’ reten-
is not just a woman’s problem. tion rates, since no individual tracking system
was put into place. Given the dynamics of girls
During the final assessment, focus groups with dropping out and new girls starting school,
the GSC members found that a significant the existing statistics make analysis of reten-
number of girls in the schools were mothers� tion rates impossible. Tracking improvements
some having as many as three children. In in girls’ retention is a sophisticated endeavor; a
discussions with one urban GSC, high school special system would need to be designed to
mothers were dropping their children off to capture this information through school admin-
kindergarten in the same school that they them- istration units and PTAs.
selves were attending. GSC members stated
that lack of day care prevented many mothers
from going to school.
Interestingly WFP targeted food for young

mothers to keep them in school; however,
this did not address the issue of day care. The
establishment of day care facilities and possible
tuition breaks for the children of mother-stu-
dents could have been a possible intervention.
Additionally, given Liberia’s high mortality rate
among children under five years of age, the
GSCs could also have served as a venue for dis-
cussing early childcare issues such as weaning,
immunization, etc.
33
FAWE (Forum for African Women Educationalists) Liberia. Results of the Girls’ Education Survey. Ministry of Education, Monrovia, Liberia.

Published 2002
TABLE 31: Matrix of Impact of the Girls’ Social Club Program
Helped reduce the drop- Reported by student, teachers, school More thorough investigation as to why girls drop out.
out rates of girls administration and PTA. Increased emphasis on peer education.
Improved girls’ atten- Stated by PTAs and teachers. Awards for students (boy and girl) with perfect attendance.
dance Awards for schools with the highest girls’ enrollment or
increase in girls’ enrollment.
Targeted interventions with students and parents at the drop-
off point.
Developed skills among Girls learned how to bake, cook and sew. Linkages to apprenticeships/
members internships with businesses in town.
Increased community Stated by GSC participants, PTAs and Increase radio program coverage.
awareness of girls’ teachers. Awareness-raising of PTA.
education
Support for GSC survey of children not attending school,
empowering them to take action.
Improved girls’ self- Stated by GSC participants and leaders. Increased training of girls in leadership and decision-making.
esteem
Attracted non-school- Stated by PTAs and teachers and yet dif- Community awareness campaigns could have been started
attending girls to come ficult to verify. earlier.
to school
Increased girls’ perfor- Stated by GSC participants, PTAs and Increase the study groups for girls.
mance on exams teachers.
Girls passing at a higher rate on the
WAEC exams.
Created a division Stated by teachers and boy students. Creation of a Boys’ Social Club to address retention of boys in
between boys and girls school and health education. Present emphasis plays to the
stereotype of girls being responsible for pregnancy.
Unsustainable in many Emphasis of program began to change Linkages to Parent Teachers Association, Girl Scouts and other
cases into income generation to support the women’s organizations.
club. Limiting inputs to ensure sustainability.
Programs reinforced Activities reinforced stereotypical activi- The IRC should offer girls training in leadership and business
stereotypes of women ties. skills.34
Female emphasis on women being
responsible for pregnancy.
34
Report on the Planning and Evaluation Workshop convened by IRC on March 29, 2000, in Ganta, Nimba County.

Published 2002
Program Impacts
TABLE 32: Children Going to School and How Their School Is Paid For
Increased Access to Education
Children Going to School—Estimated 35%
IRC support of schools, especially within the “All-grown boys are self-support-
rural areas, increased children’s physical access ing” because:
to schools close to their homes, thereby • No family nearby
enabling them to benefit from the psychoso- • Father not living
cial support and protection of their families. • Orphaned
Without this support, many children would Cut palm
either not go to school or be sent to live away Tap palm wine
from their families to attend school. Set traps/Hunting
Self-Supporting
(est. 54%) Dig yams
Once schools are available, it is important Boys
Work on other people’s farms
to identify which children are not attend- 65%
Tap rubber
ing school, the obstacles to their attendance
Petty business
and their educational needs. Typically, this is
conducted by a student group, the PTA, or Contract
local community group. As an example, IRC in Pickpockets
Kosovo sponsored the registration of all girls Farming bitter balls, watermelons
within a village and their educational status. Small business selling oil or rice
This could easily be done for all children. From Fees paid by Only younger children
discussions with students, children from wealth- parents
(est 45%)
ier families said they will go to the school that
Prostitutes (drop out when preg-
they perceive offers higher-quality education.
nant)
Poorer children go either to government Gardening to sell greens
schools or not at all. The IRC was assisting the Contract labor working in other
poorer students to attend school by decreas- people’s farms
ing the financial burden of school-related Bake bread, doughnuts, cookies for
selling
costs. Although not able to directly address the
school fees that are mandated by the govern- Self-Supporting Cook food for selling
(est. 44%) Those that are very serious make
ment, the IRC was able to address the “hidden Girls
small business
costs” of education, such as the provision of 35%
Work during the vacations
school furniture, textbooks and learning materi-
als like exercise books and pens. Boyfriends
Carry water, haul blocks, cut fire-
It is important to note that many of the chil- wood, wash clothes
dren, especially male adolescents, paid their One girl worked as a janitor for the
own school fees through a variety of means, school
as seen in Table 32. In the urban areas, it was Fees paid by
reported that some girls paid their school Parents
(est. 56%)

Published 2002
fees either by prostitution or by having “boy- This could possibly mean that more girls were
friends.” Bean sort activities in some schools attending school due to their education in the
indicated the extent of this. Within one focus refugee camps and IRC’s programs in Liberia
group, girls made a clear distinction: having a or that there were fewer boys enrolled due to
boyfriend pay their school fees was work, and other pressures, such as participation in cross-
if one boyfriend could not pay enough, it was border business, or they were still going to
necessary to get more than one. Given the vul- school in the refugee camps.
nerabilities that such situations create for girls,
GIRLS’ ACCESS
other strategies should have been aggressively
addressed for girls to pay for their schooling. Overall, the percentage of girls attending
Another area of protection that was not inves- school increased over the three years of the
tigated was treatment of children who were IRC’s intervention. With few exceptions, this
living away from home and whose school fees trend is also seen when the data is analyzed by
were being paid in return for being housegirls county and by grade (see appendixes E and F).
or houseboys for family friends or relatives. In Grade 9 the percentage of girls decreased
over time in both Bong and Nimba Counties,
A comparison of the percentage of girls attend-
which possibly may indicate changing opinions
ing school in both counties shows a notable
toward the education of girls due to economic
increase in the upper grades in Bong County.
CHART 2: Comparison of Girls’ Attendance in Bong and Nimba Counties
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��
��

Published 2002
or security considerations. It is also interest- a combination of the IRC’s interventions, such
ing to note that in some areas and grades, the as the GSCs, material support and support for
percentage of girls attending school was signifi- female teachers.
cantly higher than other grades. For example,
CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
in Bong County the percentage of girls attend-
ing school was significantly higher in Grade 5 From focus groups with students, many spe-
than Grades 1 through 4. Similarly, there were cific groups of young people emerged who
proportionately more girls in Grade 11 than in did not have access to education: children
Grade 9, 10, 12. This possibly can be attrib- with disabilities, overage children and young
uted to children who started their education parents. (Interestingly, child soldiers were not
in Guinea and are continuing in Liberia. Given identified as a category.) Limited support was
that data is not available for non-IRC-supported given to increase the access of these children
schools, it is not possible to attribute this to IRC-supported schools or to address their
directly to the IRC’s intervention. educational needs.
It is impossible to determine the specific rea- As an example, evening “Adult Education”
sons for the rise of girls’ attendance, as no classes were conducted in many of the urban
comparative study was done in non-IRC-sup- schools for older students who were not able
ported schools. However, it would seem very to attend school during the day. Although
appropriate to attribute this at least in part to such classes covered the national syllabus and
were held in the school, these students did
CHART 3: Total Percentage of Girls’ Attendance not receive support from the IRC. Additionally,
��
the LMOE, with support from UNICEF, had
implemented a program for over-age learners;
however, this was specifically piloted in non-
IRC schools and in 2001 was just beginning the
��
process of going to scale.
Although the IRC monitored the number of girls

��
�� who dropped out due to pregnancy, it was not

clear whether there was any follow-up to bring
them back to school once they had delivered. A
�� possible indicator could have been to track the
percentage of young mothers who returned to
school.
��
��
��
��

Published 2002
attributed mainly to the distribution of materials
Increased Quality of Education and training of teachers. The IRC’s contribu-
The IRC was definitely perceived by the stu- tions to quality are summarized in Table 33,
dents, parents and teachers as significantly adapted from a model developed by James H.
increasing the quality of education in the Williams.35
schools and areas where they worked. This was
TABLE 33: Indicators for Quality Education and the IRC’s Contribution
Type of Description The IRC’s contribution to quality
Quality
Inputs Provision of resources and The IRC provided adequate seating and blackboards for most schools, as well as
facilities furniture for teachers and school administrators.
Created resource centers including research materials and teaching materials.
Students, teachers and administrators had sufficient materials.
Process The use of the educational Students and teachers used all of the materials provided.
inputs Mentoring program increased classroom preparation and classroom performance of
teachers.
Contents Curriculum The IRC did not work directly with national student curriculum development.
Value Added Extent to which the school Input into national teacher training curriculum.
system has improved Re-opening of Zorzor Teacher Training College.
Training and reinforcement of the roles of CEOs and DEOs and subsequent training
of school administrators.
Improved community participation (PTAs) in the management and running of the
school.
Supported the LMOE to improve the coordination and management of educational
assistance.
Equity Students and teachers, Increase in girls’ attendance.
regardless of gender, ethnic- Increase in female teachers.
ity, religion, have access to
educational services Integrated multi-ethnic classes.
Outputs Consequences of educa- Students in IRC schools were passing above the national average.
tion: cognitive achievement, In some cases, IRC-supported schools passed higher than private schools.
employment, earning, etc.
Reputation Students’, Parents’ and IRC-supported schools in Liberia were viewed as better than non-supported LMOE
Community’s perception of schools due to material inputs, as well as teacher and administrative support.
quality The IRC had a reputation of implementing quality education programs.
Williams, James H. “On School Quality and Attainment” in Crisp, Jeff, and Christopher Talbot and Daiana Cipollone (eds), Learning for a Future: Refugee Education in
35
Developing Countries, UNHCR: 2001.

Published 2002
WAEC EXAM RESULTS in the IRC supported schools in 2001, girls
passed the WAEC exam at a higher rate than
Students in IRC-supported high schools consis- boys. While not investigated, the high rate of
tently increased their pass rate on the WAEC the girls could be attributed to self-selection, as
exam over the three years of the program, as the girls who made it to the exam were focused
seen in the table below. Middle school results achievers able to overcome or bypass the
were not available. obstacles of pregnancy, lack of school fees and
As a further indication of quality, IRC-supported moral support. A comparison of the external
high schools passed a higher level than the WAEC exam results and the schools’ matricu-
national average, which included a sizeable lation data is striking because girls were not
number of private schools, see table below. being promoted at the same rate as the boys,
In the same table, it is significant to note that indicating a possible grading bias against girls.
TABLE 34: WAEC Results for IRC-Supported High Schools

1999 2000 2001
Total Sat No. Passed % Passed Total Sat No. Passed % Passed Total Sat No. Passed % Passed
451 43 9.5% 529 171 32.3% 524 366 69.8%
TABLE 35: Percentage of Girls Taking the WAEC Exams

1999 2000 2001
Grade 12 Exams 18.50% 20.00% 20.02%
Grade 9 Exams 31% 44%
TABLE 36: 2001 WAEC Exam Results

Female Male Total Population
Sat Pass % Sat Pass % Sat Pass %
IRC-Supported 12th Grade 106 80 75.5% 418 286 68.4% 524 366 69.8%
National Average 2914 1930 66.2% 5135 3363 65.5% 8049 5293 65.8%
IRC-Supported 9th Grade 224 157 70.1% 634 414 65.3% 857 571 66.6%
National Average N/A N/A N/A

Published 2002
the key issues to be resolved is how to sup-
Supported the Development of an Educational port the government officials to monitor the
System schools. Presently, their inability to do so is
The IRC’s multi-layer capacity-building attributed to lack of transport, as well as lack
approach assisted the LMOE to develop the of pay. Although the process was not totally
education system. Regular communication and clarified, the DEOs and CEOs were paid by the
training between all of the levels increased the education tax generated from registered stu-
efficiency and efficacy of all of the programs. As dents in the schools. To ensure the sustainable
examples: payment of the LMOE officials and provide for
their transport, the IRC could have supported
• Through its training of the PTAs, principals the establishment of a district or regional
and government officials, the IRC was able to education board to oversee the collection of
clarify the roles and responsibilities of each of the tax and its use. To increase the implementa-
the actors to enable them to work effectively. tion, motorbikes could have been handed over
• The IRC worked at all the school and regional or purchased to support the LMOE officials.
levels with principals and government offi- Communities would have been supported to
cials to improve student/teacher ratios monitor the efficacy of their official.
through better allocation of teachers. One of the creative strategies in the LMOE
• Through monitoring of rural schools, the IRC five-year plan was to give NGOs office space
was able to bring management issues to the within the county and district offices. By daily
attention of government officials. interaction and example, this would have
built the capacity of the Ministry and left them
• Although ZRTTI was not functioning at the with an operational office. Presently, all of the
end of the proposal, the re-starting of the detailed files from the IRC programs have been
national teacher training system was also a archived, whereas they could have served
significant contribution. as a long-term base for programs within the
Ministry.
• Advocacy and support for female teachers.
The percentage of female teachers in the
IRC-supported schools increased over time,
rising in Bong County from approximately
11% to 16% of the teaching force. The higher
percentage of female teachers in Nimba
could be attributed to a better-educated
populace or the lack of other employment.
With increased time or increased support, the

IRC could have pursued additional strategies
for developing the educational system. One of

Published 2002
Impacts on Repatriation
Impact Statement Extracted from IRC Proposals to repatriate is based upon refugees deciding
1998/1999: The goal of this project is to support the repatria-
whether it is in their best interests to return. In
tion and reintegration of Liberian refugees by transferring the Liberian situation, the refugees consistently
successful refugee education programs from Guinea to Liberia stated that they were eager to return home but
and linking them with a program to revitalize the school sys- the primary obstacles were security and lack of
tems in Liberia’s Bong, Lofa and Nimba Counties.
social services, such as education and health
1999/2000: The goal of this project is to support the repatria-
care.36 It is in this light that UNHCR, the initial
tion and reintegration of Liberian refugees while continuing the
process of transferring successful refugee education programs primary donor, supported rebuilding roads,
from Guinea to Liberia and linking them with an ongoing pro- agricultural support and the rehabilitation of
gram to revitalize the school system in target counties of return� schools and health clinics. Whether this support
Nimba, Bong and Lofa Counties.
was sufficient was up to the refugees, and three
2000/2001: The provision of high-quality education will contrib- years after the program it is difficult to ascertain
ute to the cognitive growth of students and increase their social
and economic development. In the final year of a three-year how influential education was in the repatriation
program, IRC will work with local communities and the Ministry process.
of Education to provide the necessary training in order to make
public schools functional and effective in Bong, Nimba and As seen in Figure 5, refugees could return in
Lofa Counties. These schools will support and encourage the two ways. One option was to register with
continued repatriation of Liberian refugees to their home com- UNHCR for “facilitated return” and be provided
munities.
with transportation back to their home village
To understand the IRC’s overall impact, it is and material support upon their arrival, or they
necessary to dissect the Liberian repatriation could “spontaneously return” using their own
and reintegration process. First, the decision money. From discussion with returnees, most
FIGURE 5: Migration of Returnees
Refugees proceed directly to their home

villages spontaneously or with assistance
from UNHCR..
REINTEGRATION
REPATRIATION Refugees able to participate
RESETTLEMENT
Refugees make a in larger Liberian society
Refugees return to their home regardles of refugee/IDP
well-informed decision to
villages and towns. status, gender, reilgious or
return to Liberia.
ethnic group.
Became IDPs
Joined large numbers of IDPs in urban
areas such as Ganta and Obanga awaiting
improved security and infrastructure.
36

Published 2002
families combined the two methods of return, Tapeta region near what used to be a buffer
with male members returning to check on the zone between the warring factions39 In Lofa
security of the village and preparing the fields County, where the population is concentrated
and then sending word to the families to regis- near the border, many town sites were almost
ter with UNHCR for repatriation.38 Additionally, deserted during the war and the returnees
some families left one or more children behind formed between 60% and 90% of the popula-
to attend and/or finish school in the areas of tion. Throughout the program, the insecurity in
asylum.38 Lofa hindered the return of refugees; however,
since villages and refugee camps were in close
As would be expected, the people who fled
proximity, refugees were able to travel during
into Guinea during the war were most highly
the day to their village and then return at night
concentrated near the border and in the
to their families in the refugee camp.
TABLE 37: Who Stayed During the Liberian War, Who Fled, Why and Why Do They Remain in Asylum?
Why did they stay?
• Stayed to defend their country
Those • Poorest people wanted to defend what little they had
who • Were living a “hand-to-mouth” existence and if they moved from their home place would not have any way to
stayed live
in • Heads of villages and had an obligation to stay
Liberia • They preferred to die in their own area
• Had connections with the fighting force (e.g., the advancing forces were relatives)
• Families had elderly or handicapped that could not be moved
Who are/were the refugees? Reasons for not returning?
All the • People with different status (e.g., chiefs, govern- • Relatives from outside sending money
people ment workers, etc. who were targeted by the rebels) • Children whose parents were killed and have no
in the • Had experience traveling across the border family to return to
village • Had money • Waiting for improved security
• Had cars or transportation to move across the • Homes were burned and property taken and are
Those border awaiting shelter in their home area
who • Small families. People with large families did not • Lack of medical attention
left have money to transport all of their family • No food
Liberia
• Those having difficulty finding food attracted by the • Working in another country for an NGO
availability of free food in exile country • Farming in another country
• Children whose parents were killed • Attending school
• Mandingoes and Khran • Awaiting resettlement
• Forged citizenship in other countries
• Married in other country
37
38
Ibid. pg. 2.
39
Ibid. pg. 3.

Published 2002
By contrast, in Bong and Nimba Counties, in rebuilding the national education system.
where the villages were typically farther from Following the elections, the IRC in Guinea
the border, the number of returnees was conducted repatriation briefings to prepare
small in comparison with the number of IDPs. the refugees in Guinea for return. Additionally,
In Nimba County, it was estimated that the the IRC provided students with copies of their
returnee population constituted only 2% of the school records to facilitate their registration
population, with most of the population stay- into Liberian schools. For logistical reasons, no
ing in Liberia during the war.40 Focus groups tracking was done to determine whether the
with PTAs and teachers in Bong and Nimba students returning from Guinea were able to
Counties revealed that those families with continue their education in Liberia.
money became refugees, whereas those with
It can be conjectured that the tangible and vis-
little money or transportation, or with large
ible support of schools (rehabilitation, school
families or elderly parents, were unable to flee
feeding, material support) done by the IRC
far from their villages. It has also been noted by
and other NGOs was reported back in the
the Refugee Policy Group that those who fled
camps and bolstered the refugees’ confidence
did so early in the war and most had returned
to return. In these instances, the material and
before 1997.41
training support were viewed as a proxy indi-
cator of the quality education to come in the
Repatriation future. The IRC’s reputation as an implementer
of quality education programs in Guinea might
After three years, it is difficult to measure the
also have served to build confidence in the
IRC’s total impact on the refugees’ repatriation.
schools even before services were provided.
What can be analyzed though, are the contri-
butions the IRC made to the “pull” factor of Throughout the program, the IRC sought the
repatriation. First, the IRC’s program in Guinea certification of refugee teachers trained in
was designed to encourage repatriation—the Guinea—to facilitate their repatriation, but also
curriculum was based upon the Liberian as a means of supporting LMOE with trained
national curriculum, Liberian textbooks were teachers. This process recognized them as pro-
used and students were sponsored to take the fessionals but also enabled them to be on the
Liberian-recognized WAEC exams. Additionally, government payroll and receive a higher salary,
in 1993, members of the LMOE visited the thus enhancing the pull to repatriate. This was
Guinea program and subsequently accredited a slow process due to both the low levels of
the program, enabling students to transition capacity of the LMOE and the inadequate and
smoothly from the refugee system into the incomplete documentation of trainings by
Liberian system. It is interesting to note that in the IRC. In 1999, the LMOE agreed to certify
1995, the LMOE approached the IRC to assist the teachers; however, from discussion with
40
41
Ibid. pg. 3.

Published 2002
the LMOE, less than 100 of the total Guinean
teaching force of 1,374 teachers have sought
Reintegration
accreditation. This certification was based on Although one of the goals of the IRC’s program
the contact hours of formal trainings provided was to “reintegrate” the refugees into Liberian
for teachers, but did not take into consideration society, it is not clear within the proposals what
the large number of hours spent in mentor- specific outcomes this intended. In the simplest
ing, classroom observation, mini-workshops sense, reintegration means for refugees to be
and demonstration lessons. Interestingly, included in Liberian society without fear of dis-
even though this has occurred in other simi- crimination due to their previous refugee status
lar contexts, this initiative was not supported and to have the ability to return to a normal
by UNHCR, as it would provide the Liberian life. In many repatriation situations, returning
government with lists of those in asylum and, refugees are discriminated against by those
according to them, thus endanger the refugees. who feel that since the refugees did not stay,
fight, and suffer, they are not entitled to the
same rights or considerations. For these rea-
Return to their Homes sons, UNHCR and the international community
Since the end of the war, the Liberian gov- are concerned for the safety and security of the
ernment has launched a largely unsuccessful returning refugees.
campaign to promote IDPs and returnees to
In 1997, a Refugee Policy Group study claimed
return to rural farming. Due to the war, many
the returnees experienced no “embarrass-
Liberians have gotten used to living in large
ment” or harassment in their town due to their
groups, camps or urban areas and are now
refugee status.42 Generally, this seemed to be
ill prepared or do not wish to live in the rural
the case throughout the repatriation, since the
areas. From discussions with the PTAs, school
returning refugees became almost indistinguish-
administration and parents, a sizeable number
able from the IDPs. The one group that was
of returnees and IDPs remain in the urban areas
visibly targeted was the Mandingo, who, due
around Ganta and Gbanga. Furthermore, they
to longstanding discrimination, continued to
stated, the longer they stayed in the urban
be viewed as “aliens” or foreigners, leading to
areas, the less likely they were to return to the
the appropriation of their property. The focus
rural areas. In some cases, families have settled
group discussions identified the main tension as
permanently in urban areas and commute to
caused by international organizations targeting
their home areas for farming or have intermar-
the returning refugees for assistance rather than
ried into the local urban community. The IRC’s
the poorer groups who stayed. IRC Liberian staff
strategy to primarily assist rural schools poten-
who had been hired from the refugee camps
tially increased the pull back to the rural areas.
stated that even though they were initially hired
to work in their home areas, they experienced
some tension within their communities.
42

Published 2002
Schools throughout the world serve as a mixing When asked where these teachers were it was
area for children and are also a useful barom- commonly reported that they were teaching in
eter for monitoring tensions within individual the private schools. The extent of this is dif-
communities. Schools in Liberia were no excep- ficult to determine. Some of these teachers
tion. All reported that children, regardless of were located within the camp of IDPs from Lofa
their refugee/IDP status or ethnicity, were able County and were assisting in setting up the
to attend school. Teachers reported that stu- education system there.
dents initially grouped themselves by ethnicity,
While the IRC’s overall effect on the returnees
but over time became more integrated. Some
is difficult to determine, the IRC did contribute
teachers and parents reported that during
significantly to the reestablishment of schools
school breaks, students’ ties with their class-
in rural Liberia. Without this assistance, children
mates were often stronger than their ties to
in these areas would not have had even limited
children of their own village or ethnic group.
access to education.
Similarly, the PTAs were a mixture of residents,
IDPs and returning refugees of different ethnic
groups.
The direct relationship between the imple-

mentation of education programs and the
repatriation/reintegration diminished over time.
At the time of closing staff assessment, senior
and local IRC staff were focused on imple-
menting quality education programs and not
necessarily on considering the original intent of
supporting the reintegration and protection of
the refugees.
The larger question remains: where are the

refugees and what are they doing now? It is
important to remember that 72% of the stu-
dents and 63% of the teachers in camps were
NOT from Nimba and Bong (see Table 2). It is
unknown where they are, or whether they con-
tinued school. Some of the returnee students
were met in the IDP Camps in Bong County.
Interestingly, these same students stated that
they were sent to the IDP camps by their par-
ents to avoid being recruited into the army.
Relatively few of the teachers from the refu-
gee areas were found in the surveyed schools.

Published 2002
Conclusions
The IRC’s Liberia Repatriation and Reintegration below in two categories: 1) broad recom-
Education Program contributed significantly to mendations for supporting education in early
the reconstruction of post-war Liberian society reconstruction contexts, and 2) specific recom-
and the re-establishment of quality education mendations for improving the IRC’s education
within Liberia. Without the IRC’s assistance, program in Liberia.
many of the schools in Bong and Nimba
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SUPPORTING
Counties would be functioning poorly, or would
EDUCATION DURING REINTEGRATION
not be functioning at all. With the IRC’s assis-
AND RECONSTRUCTION
tance, for the three years between 1998 and
2001 more than 40,000 children enjoyed the Rapidly restore quality education services
benefits and protection of quality education. The
The IRC’s experience showed that it is pos-
process of reconstruction, though, is far from
sible, under incredibly difficult circumstances,
complete: even in 2001 when the program had
to rapidly restore education services in a short
to end, many children still were not in school and
period of time, without sacrificing program
the LMOE was still relatively weak. After another
quality. Through the IRC’s multifaceted support
outbreak of conflict and further destabilization
and collaboration with the Liberian Ministry
of the system, the current situation poses many
of Education (LMOE), the quality of education
challenges. Part of the hope for the future is
increased in all schools. Over the course of the
that, as several years ago, communities are only
program, students in IRC-supported schools
beginning to realize their potential to provide
increased their pass rate on the West Africa
and sustain quality education.
Exam Council (WAEC) yearly exam. Improved
quality of education in the IRC schools was also
Recommendations for Future Programs shown by noted increases in teachers’ prepara-
tion and satisfaction with the work. Importantly,
The IRC and other organizations can learn a
in the absence of any other teacher-training
great deal from this program about revitaliz-
program, IRC support set the standard for
ing education systems in early reconstruction
teacher performance in non-IRC-supported
contexts. An obvious focus for programmatic
government schools and private schools.
learning should be on both the strategies for
While the program set out to assist returning
enhancing positive impacts and for mitigating
refugees, the IRC’s support of government-
negative impacts of a range of intervention
run private schools increased the availability
components. These strategies are presented
of affordable education for all of the children
throughout the document (in Tables 9, 11-13,
in the targeted communities. This specifically
17, 19, 24, 27, and 31) and cover the following
benefited children of the poorest families,
program components: PTAs, ABC-KG, Resource
such as internally displaced persons (IDPs), as
Centers, Mentor Teachers, CEO/DEO/Principal
well as those who had stayed in their village
Training, Material Support, School Materials,
throughout the war. Additionally, the provision
Teacher Incentives and Girls’ Social Clubs.
of educational materials lessened the financial
Additional recommendations are presented

Published 2002
burden on the parents, enabling them to pay address other school needs. In the future, PTA
school fees and send more children to school. development should start with intensive train-
ing and non-income-generating projects, such
Stabilize and “preserve” capacity
as child protection, to build PTA leadership and
of the education system through
implementation capacity. In Liberia generally,
teacher incentives and training
above and beyond the IRC, the opportunity to
The IRC’s experience has shown that broadly use the school rehabilitation as the initial activity
supporting teachers is essential in the revitaliza- for PTAs was squandered by the international
tion of education systems. The IRC’s training community. The NGOs that rehabilitated the
and payment of incentives to teachers kept the Liberian schools typically had no long-term
schools staffed, increased the pool of trained interest in the schools’ development and
teachers and prevented the closure of schools received only token community participation.
due to teachers’ strikes, hence “preserving” if
not “protecting” the governmental education Use a multi-level approach in
system capacity. Prior to the IRC’s intervention, order to best effect change
public school teachers were migrating to the By working at all levels of the Liberian educa-
private schools that offered more consistent tional system, the IRC was able to support local
and higher pay. The IRC’s payment of teach- officials to rapidly address quality, protection
ers’ incentives, the opening of teacher-training and management issues. For example, through
colleges, the teacher mentoring program and regular monitoring the IRC supported communi-
the provision of teachers’ packages provided ties and school administrations to address their
an economic and morale boost for government own problems; where this failed the IRC liaised
schools to retain both trained and untrained with LMOE on behalf of the school for support.
teachers. Finally, the availability of training Similarly, the IRC trained regional education offi-
attracted untrained community members to cers on the importance of teacher/student ratios
enter the teaching profession. and supported the LMOE to address schools for
teacher re-allocation.
Prioritize PTA development
The IRC’s experience shows that PTAs play Plan strategically, including coordination
with returning refugees
a valuable role in supporting the restoration
of education services, and their mobilization, The IRC’s experience showed that an almost
development and involvement should be yearlong delay in program funding hindered an
prioritized from the earliest stages of the pro- organized repatriation. Students and their fami-
gramming. In the third year of the program, lies could not move systematically across the
the IRC-supported PTAs began to thrive orga- border for the start of the 1998/99 school year.
nizationally. During the first two years of the With the late arrival of funding in September
program, at the community’s request, the IRC 1998, this window of opportunity was lost,
provided agricultural support to enable PTAs to potentially causing students to continue their
generate income to pay teachers’ salaries and education in the refugee camps. Additionally,

Published 2002
the late arrival of funding meant that those refu- community development NGOs, and the stu-
gees who did return were not supported when dent groups to organizations like the Liberian
they were most at risk. Boy Scouts or Girl Guide programs or to the
Forum for African Women in Education. Such
RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE IRC ON
linkages and capacity development must be
AREAS FOR PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT
built into the program from the very begin-
The following recommendations highlight key ning and aggressively pursued through the
areas for improvement within the IRC’s educa- identification of specific skills and training. The
tion program in Liberia. While some of them adequate resources must support training. For
are closely linked to the material covered in this example, the IRC provided training at the dis-
report, including the above-referenced “strate- trict and for county education officers, and yet
gies for enhancement/mitigation,” others are token material and logistical support was pro-
not. The recommendations focus on five main vided for them to undertake monitoring of the
categories: multi-level capacity building, train- schools. More immediate handover of motorcy-
ing materials and program tools development, cles and steady supply of office materials could
research and documentation on promising have been developed into the long-range plan.
practices, cross-border planning, and program Systematically build capacity of local staff
management.
From discussion with local staff, they perceived
Multi-Level Capacity Building the handover of responsibilities to be sudden
and a function of budgetary constraints rather
Build the LMOE emergency
education capacity than foresight. In other IRC country programs,
specific skills (budgeting, development of pro-
The IRC should consider strategies to build the posals, report writing, computer literacy, typing)
capacity of the LMOE to implement emergency have been identified and courses delivered to
education programs as part of their Education staff systematically and transparently. Planned
For All Plan. Senior IRC Liberian staff could be handover of managerial responsibilities should
seconded to the LMOE with operational sup- be included in the program planning. Many
port to oversee the education issues of refugee of the IRC Liberian staff have worked for the
and IDP populations. This strategy potentially organization for more than eight years—some
could have expedited the establishment of IDP have computer skills that will enable them to
education with LMOE officials in Bong County. get another job, but most do not. The possibil-
Identify and build the capacity ity of self-study, interactive CD-ROM typing and
of local partners computer programs should be investigated.
Local partners, in addition to the government,

should be identified as early as possible to
increase the sustainability of the projects. The
teacher training/mentor programs could have
been linked to education NGOs, the PTAs to

Published 2002
Training Materials and Program This could include:
Tools Development
• Examples of how schools act as barometers
Development of a PTA manual for a community, such as girls dropping out
for emergency education of school due to security issues, children
As an NGO focusing on education, protec- leaving school due to lack of food or chang-
tion and community development, the IRC ing food rations.
should develop a manual on supporting and • Strategies for working with communities and
developing PTA capacity in areas of conflict governments to interpret data.
and post-conflict. Such a manual would be
cross-sectoral and could double as a guide • A simple Excel-based computer program for
for civil society, starting with the initiation of collecting, inputting and graphing educa-
social, protection and managerial activities. tional statistics. This could be valuable during
Possible protection activities could include an initial emergency, but also in monitoring
the monitoring of school performance (exam the intervention over the longer term.
results, teacher and student discipline, and
Systematic institutional and
attendance), access and retention of com- individual recording of training
munity children (especially girls, minorities
and children with disabilities) and quality of In order to facilitate teacher certification, the
instruction. Additionally, PTAs could screen and IRC and the teachers themselves should keep
monitor children needing special assistance and records of teacher trainings and observations.
mobilize community support, as well as oversee For each program, there should be a central-
the distribution of student, teacher and school ized recording of all trainings provided, which
materials. Basic organizational and managerial includes number of participants, subjects
materials could also be included to cover issues covered and dates, and possibly could be
such as goal setting, accounting, running a required as an appendix on program reports.
meeting and strategies for monitoring capacity Additionally, strategies should be developed to
building. document how many times a teacher has been
observed in class, as well as his or her atten-
Training and tools in protection dance at mini-workshops and model lessons.
Staff, communities and implementing part- A cumulative reporting form of IRC trainings
ners should be more thoroughly oriented to could be developed as part of standardized
addressing protection issues. The IRC collected program reporting. This would enable the
detailed monthly statistics; however, com- future IRC trainings to plan upcoming trainings
munities and schools were not supported to and would serve as a framework for ultimate
interpret and take action on the information. certification. On the individual level, the IRC
The IRC should develop a simple training pro- should continue putting the contents and time
gram and tools for linking education programs on certificates of participation. Teachers who
to the protection of children and communities. are mentored under the IRC program should
keep some record of when their classes are

Published 2002
observed, feedback, mini-workshops attended, Cross-Border Planning
etc. Education Officers and mentors could then
Plan strategically how program staff,
fill out and stamp this form.
resources and knowledge will be
Research and Documentation transferred across the border
of Promising Practices IRC staff and internal documents frequently
Research on Resource Centers mention the concept of “moving the programs
across the border” from Guinea into Liberia.
Resource Centers are a common educational This concept is attractive, as it seeks to build
intervention, but their usage by outside teach- upon the IRC’s programmatic experience, but
ers is typically very limited, especially when unfortunately flawed, as it assumes that refugee
teachers come from distant villages. For this communities move intact across the border.
reason, it would be worthwhile for the IRC to More typically, refugees disperse themselves
research the resource center literature and across a wide geographical area. Aside from
conduct some more detailed research to deter- the references to teacher certification and
mine their effectiveness and applicability, and recognition of the schools, there is little docu-
identify conditions for success. Specific areas mentation of how the IRC programmatically
of research could include (1) differences in prepared the refugees for return. Some possi-
Resource Centers in areas of condensed versus ble interventions may include: discussions with
dispersed populations—refugee camps versus refugee communities on how to set up PTAs in
resettlement situations, or refugee camps their home communities and how to address
versus dispersed populations—as in Liberia. child protection issues, preparing refugees
(2) Models for sharing of resources such as working in teacher training, PTA development
copying machines or required literature text- or girls’ programming to establish an NGO in
books. In the case of Liberia, classroom sets of their home country. Additionally, where pos-
40 copies of required literature texts (such as sible and appropriate, the IRC should write into
Shakespeare’s plays) could have been part of initial refugee proposals the transfer of assets
the resource center and checked out by schools to the country of asylum program.
in the area.
Program Management
Documenting the Mentoring Program
IRC-managed transportation
Mentoring is one of the true strengths of the
IRC’s education programs, as it is a cost-effec- In Liberia, the IRC relied upon UNHCR-spon-
tive and efficient method for improving the sored GTZ to provide transportation. Given that
quality of classroom instruction. The existing UNHCR’s emphasis was on moving refugees,
mentoring manuals from Guinea and Liberia these trucks were seldom available for the IRC.
could be combined into a manual with the In the future, the IRC should either include the
accompanying forms and training materials. purchase vehicles or include a budget line for
vehicle rental when agreed-upon vehicles are
unavailable.

Published 2002
Follow up on the certification of
the first group of trainees
In the first cycle of training, the trainees were
issued a provisional certification of participa-
tion that was to be fully acknowledged by
the LMOE following a prescribed amount of
classroom observation. The LMOE was unable
to observe these students, and at the time
of this report these trainees remain uncerti-
fied. Discussions with the Assistant Minister
for Instruction indicated that the Ministry was
prepared to certify them without observation
but was awaiting support for the printing of
certificates. The challenge was later how to
identify those who had been trained. Note: the
training cycle was later extended from eight to
ten weeks to include teacher practicum, so this
is not an issue for later trainees.

Published 2002
Appendices
b. Interviews with MOE
Appendix A: Methodology for Liberian Education
Program Assessment Individual interviews will be conducted
with the County Education Officers and
Goals of Assessment
the District Education Officers. These
• Broadly examine the progress made toward discussions will focus on how they rank the
achieving the project objectives of repatria- IRC’s program in terms of importance for
tion and reintegration of Liberian citizens. improving the quality of education in their
area and how the IRC has assisted them
• Analyze key aspects of the Education to reach their goals. Specific issues will be
Program with emphasis on the follow- to identify what concrete skills they have
ing components: material inputs, PTA learned from the IRC.
development, professional training and
workshops, the establishment of Girls’ Social Meetings with the Ministry in Monrovia
Clubs, effectiveness of collaboration with similarly try to elucidate their feelings
Government of Liberia officials. about the quality and impact of the IRC’s
programs and how much of an impact
• Examine ways in which revitalization of the the IRC has had in supporting the LMOE.
education system is linked to efforts at rein- Specific issues to look at are program-
tegration and repatriation. matic contributions, adoption of IRC forms
1. Defining terms: reintegration and or strategies, productiveness of meetings
repatriation held with the Ministry, what was the impact
of moving the Education Coordinator
To enhance the clarity of the assessment, the to the field, and identifying how the IRC
following definitions have been developed assisted the Ministry in the goals estab-
by the assessment team. lished in their five-year plan.
Repatriation: returning to one’s home or vil- c. Interviews with other agencies working in
lage of origin. the education sector
Reintegration: non-discriminatory partici- It is hoped during the last week to meet

pation in community, school and Liberian with other organizations working in the
society. education sector in Liberia, specifically:
ADRA, which is implementing education
2. Methodology
programs in the eastern part of the coun-
a. Review of field documents try; UNHCR, an original supporter of the
education project; UNICEF; UNESCO; and
Thorough review and analysis of reports, SDP, the IRC’s local partner for the rice mill
assessments, trainings and developed project.
materials in light of the objectives of the
T.O.R. and the proposals.

Published 2002
d. Interviews and group discussions with IRC compiled. Every file will be reviewed for
staff trends in repatriation, reintegration and
each of the key programmatic areas.
Throughout the assessment mission,
Each file will include: (1) the initial 1998
the consultant will meet with IRC staff
IRC Assessment of Schools, (2) School
to understand the programs, how they
statistics for the beginning and the end
developed and the challenges they faced
of term during the duration of IRC’s
in implementing them. Specific issues
involvement in the school, (3) Review of
of interest will include the dynamics of
PTA project, (4) Yearly promotion statis-
repatriation/reintegration as it relates to
tics, (5) Girls tracking sheet.
schools, programmatic start-up and the
program transfer from Guinea to Liberia, iii. School visits
with the hope of identifying lessons
The Consultant, Education Coordinator
learned.
and two Education Officers divided into
e. Visits to IRC schools two teams. Each team assessed one
school a day. Each assessment began
i. School selection
meeting with the principal, having a
At the end of 2001, the program was brief tour of the school and then pro-
active in 125 schools. Due to the rainy ceeding with three focus groups: the
season, 60 of these were deemed inac- Parent Teacher Association including
cessible as a result of road conditions the principal; teachers; and the stu-
or were more than two hours one way dents (including a separate meeting
from either Ganta or Gbanga. Of the with girls’ representatives). Principals
remaining 65 schools, 10 were chosen were requested to select one boy and
at random for assessment. By chance, one girl from each class above stan-
an equal number was represented in dard four for the student focus group.
both counties. Additionally, non-random Additionally, a meeting with four girls
school assessments will be conducted at in the GSC and four non-GSC girls was
two of the schools with rice mill projects. requested.
Two non-IRC government schools will
Each of the groups participated in a
also be assessed for non-statistical com-
guided focus group on the topics in the
parison with IRC schools. Both of these
matrix below. The specific methodology
schools will be in Nimba County, since
for each focus group will accompany this
IRC is supporting all of the assessable
brief. It was acknowledged that much
government schools in Bong County.
information would be gathered, but
ii. Pre-visit review and preparation initial testing with the team found they
could get the basic information in about
To facilitate an informed assessment of 1.5 hours from the PTA and teachers.
the selected schools, files have been

Published 2002
The specific questions and center of Additionally, there was review of school
questioning will change as the assess- records as a gauge of the administration
ment progresses, as answers become and teachers. As well, the principal was
consistent and as information gaps are asked how often IRC staff came to visit
identified. There was also some review his school, what their agenda was while
of school records as a gauge of the visiting, and whether this has had any
administration and teachers. impact on the school.
PTA Teachers Boys Girls Traveling back from the field, the teams
Refugee, IDP, Ethnic Schoolgoing Schoolgoing discussed what they learned from their
status breakdown of and non- and non- notes and compiled them into a stan-
Economic village schoolgoing schoolgoing
dardized format for comparison and
ranking Breakdown of Ranking of Ranking of
students by IRC programs IRC programs
discussion.
Ranking of
IRC programs age
Ranking of
IRC programs
UPDATED CALENDAR
Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Scheduling and Complete assessment tool Felix and Yourfee go Schools Closed
selection of Compiling school information/train- to inform schools, Finalize assessment
schools ing DEO/CEOs methodology for New
1 Carl meets with CEO York and IRC Liberia
and IRC Staff review
Ongoing review of
files
Training and trail Divide into two teams and assess six IRC schools a day in Assess information Schools closed
in a Bong school Bong County, including the rice mill being received and Review and compila-
Redesign of where necessary tion of data
assessment adjust methodology
2 Ongoing review of
instrument Yourfee to travel to files
inform schools in
Nimba Transfer to Nimba
County
Divide into two teams and assess six IRC schools Review of two Meet with Nimba CEO Review of data
Meeting with DEO and CEOs non-IRC schools/ and travel to Bong and formulation of
3 assess and com- findings
pile information
Finalization of Travel to Meeting with UNHCR/UNICEF/ADRA/MOE Final collection of

findings and Monrovia information
4 debriefing for IRC Departure from
staff Liberia

Published 2002
Appendix B: Assessment of Children Not Attending School
Children Not Attending School—ESTIMATED 65%

Why are they not attending school? What are they doing?
• Lack of financial and moral support • Farming
• Parents are poor • Making business
• Some parents have more children than family income • Gambling
can support • Stealing
• Some boys feel too big to go to school • Cutting palm
• Since some fought in the war, they prefer looking for • Petty business (wheel barrow businesses)
money to attending school • Rogues
Boys • Married early • Car loaders
47% • Already have an income and do not take school seriously • Discouraging those who do attend
• Smoking/drinking/abusing drugs • Married
• Overage, are mocked by younger students • For some of the boys, their parents paid their school
• Feel “too big,” have no respect for the teacher fees, but they took the money and are not attending
• Some have no respect for education school
• Some have more interest in following women than in • Not serious, living in pleasure
education
• Only ones able to support their families or have their
own family to support
Why are they not attending school? What are they doing?
• Lack of financial and moral support • Farming
• Lack of moral support (parents not serious about edu- • Married with babies
cation) • Making business/Selling in the markets
• Low self-esteem “girls do not know their value” • Prostitution/They are generally being disobedient/Home
• Some girls are ashamed to come to school because breakers
they are too old. Big girls do not want to sit with small
children even if they have support
• Some girls are not interested in education
Girls • Getting food is difficult
53% • No uniform
• Married early
• Have babies and no caretaker
• No Girls’ Social Club at the school
• Go with fashion
• Have boyfriends too early
• Only ones able to support their families
• Have their own family that depends upon them
• Family prejudice against girls in school
• Girls with babies cannot come to school

Published 2002
Appendix C: Causal Pathway of Liberia Refugee Education Program
School furniture Repatriation awareness

in schools for teachers REPATRIATION
and students Refugees make a well-
ABC/KG Mural Project informed decision to
Provision of educational
Hiring of refugee staff for return to Liberia
materials
repatriation
Student Kits
Teacher Kits
School Kits To support the repatria-
tion and reintegration
Capacity-buliding of
Training of MOE DEOs of Liberian Refugees in
School Administrators
and CEOs order for them to fully
and MOE
participate and benefit
Certification of trained from the social and
refugee teachers economic development
Access to functioning REINTEGRATION in their country.
and quality schools
Teacher Mentoring
Program RESETTLEMENT
Trained teachers Refugees return to
Reopening of Zorzor their home villages
Teacher Training Institute and towns
Resource Centers
INCLUSION
PTA training Refugees participate
Functioning Parent freely in the larger
Teacher Associations Liberian society
Support for PTA project without fear of
discrimination due to
School statistics and Monitoring of schools gender or ethnicity or
twice-monthly verification and communities violence
Equitable schools
Girls’ Tracking Form
Support for girls’
education
Girls’ Social Clubs

Published 2002
Appendix D: Matrix of IRC Trainings from 1998–2001
Date Title of Subjects Covered Trainings Who Was # Multiplier Number

Training Conducted by Trained? Trained
the IRC
1998/99
Mar / Apr School Functioning as a viable team 1 3 days Liberian 59 CEOs and DEOs in 445 princi-
1999 Supervisors Establishing a report system MOE CEOs turn conducted 16 pals were
Workshop and DEOs workshops for IRC trained
Type of collaboration with NGOs and non-IRC school
Types of administrative supervision supervisors
Record keeping
Registration, promotion and evaluation of
students
Basic bookkeeping and financial manage-
ment
Teaching aids
Instructional supervision
Mar / Apr Mentor Short- and medium-term planning 1 2 days IRC selected 104 Observe 10 teachers Benefited
1999 Training Role of a mentor mentors a month the more
Carry out demonstra- than 1,700
Daily lesson planning teachers in
tion lessons
Classroom management techniques the IRC-
Organize one mini- supported
Teacher observation training session a schools
week
Mar / Apr PTA Training Role of a PTA 105 1 day PTA mem- 105 Applied in PTA with
/ May Goal-setting prioritization of school needs bers PTAs follow-up from
Education Officers
Targeted spending
Jan / “C” Level Subject-specific teaching methods and 9 Untrained 434
Mar–May Teacher revision weeks teachers
/ June Training Measurement and evaluation selected by
the IRC
Childhood development
Classroom Management

Published 2002
the IRC
1999/00
Oct / Dec Girls’ Social Leadership 4 3 days GSC spon- 193 Sponsors and girls’
Club Communication sors and leaders returned to
student their clubs to train
Health Education leaders their members
Sexual/Gender Violence
Mar Mentor Developmental Psychology 2 5 days Mentors 94 Each mentor con- Approximately
2000 Training Theory and Background to Peace and ducted a three-hour 1,200
Conflict workshop for five
community members
Classroom Management and teachers at each
Characteristics of a Good Teacher school in May
Educational Theory
Use of Visual Aids
Preschool Teaching
July 2000 Supervisors’ The Nature, Scope and Usage of School 1 3 days Ministry of 49 DEOs and CEOs 507 princi-
Workshop Curriculum Education, organized 13 three- pals trained
Lessons for Combined Classes Six County day trainings for all
Education principals and some
Instructional Supervision Officers, registrars in their area
Teacher Recruitment and REtention 14 District
School Schedules and Deployment Education
Officers, and
Making School Rules and Regulations IRC staff
Function
Understanding Communications Links in
the Liberian Educational System
Community Participation in School
Development

Published 2002
the IRC
2000/01
Sept Mentor Methodologies for Classroom Management 1 6 days Mentors and 92 IRC staff and mentors Approximately
2000 Training Developmental Psychology IRC staff conducted workshops 1,200 people
with community were trained
The Theory of Peace and Conflict members, PTA and
teachers
Nov / Dec ABC/KG Use of the ABC/KG Curriculum 4 3 days ABC/KG 252 Applied in classroom
2000 Training Medium-Range Plans teachers
Developmental Psychology (4–8 year olds)
Teaching Aids
Classroom Management
Rhymes, Music and Motor Skills
Dec Mentor Usefulness of Wall Charts 1 3 days Mentors and 85 Applied in schools
Training Making Effective Use of MacMillan Wall IRC staff with mentoring pro-
Charts grams with follow-up
by Education Officers
Roles of Mentors in Instructional
Supervision
Jan–Mar Parent Defined PTA 14 2 days PTA chair- 630 Trained members
Teachers Parent Teacher Administration persons, returned to their
Association Relationship vice chair- areas to implement
Training persons, and train members
Competition and Cooperation secretary, who were not able to
Managing PTA Meeting treasurer, attend
Income Generation farm man-
ager
School IMprovement Projects
Leadership
Project Proceed Management
keeping Project REcords
How Does PTA Cater to Teachers’ Needs
Mar Resource Definition and Purpose of Resource Center 14 2 days Resource Applied in the devel-
2001 Personnel Effective Organization and Layout of center opment and running
Training Resource Center personnel of resource center
Storage and Security

Stamping and Labeling of REsource
Center
Taking Inventory of Resource

Published 2002
the IRC
200/01 CONTINUED
Mar Mentors Using the Curriculum in Planning 1 1 day New mentors 57 Applied in school by
2001 Medium- and Short-Range Plans conducting mini-
workshops, classroom
Instructional Supervision observations, and
The Role of a Mentor demonstration lessons
Apr 2001 Girl’s Self-Esteem 4 2 days Chairladies 172 Applied lessons
Social Club Goal Setting and Decision Making and spon- learned in their clubs
Leadership sors of GSC and in some cases
Training Managing the Effectives of Negative conducted trainings in
Thinking their clubs
Reasons Why People Hide Their Feelings
Ways to Learn From One’s Mistakes
Attributes of Good and Bad Leaders
May Resource Organization and Structure of Resource 14 2 days CEO, DEOs, 119 Applied training to
2001 Center Center mentors and the set-up of resource
Training Teacher, Students and the REsource resource centers in their com-
Center personnel munity
Medium-Range and Short-Range Plans

Planning
Demonstration Lessons
Writing Lesson Notes and Lesson Plans
June / Parent Parent-School Administration 14 2 days MOE 625 Applied upon return to
July Teachers RElationships Assistant their PTA and follow-
Association Writing PRoject PRoposals Minister up with IRC Education
Training for Teacher Officers
Finacnial Management INstruction,
Transparency in Management of School CEOs, DEOs
Resources and PTA
Developing PTA Activity Plan chair-
persons,
Formation of PTA Sub-Committees co-chair-
Management of Efficiency in PTA persons,
Development secretary,
PTA-Community Relationship treasurer
and farm
Components of PTA Constitution and manager
By-laws
Theory and Background of Peace and
Conflict Management

Published 2002
the IRC
2000/01 CONTINUED
July 2001 Supervisor Instructional Supervision: 1 3 days MOE 132
Training • Principal’s Role Assistant
• Medium-Range Planning Minister,
CEOs, DEOs,
• Lesson Planning
principals
• Lesson Note Preparation
School Schedule and Teacher Deployment
Establish School Records and Statistics
Community Participation in School
Development Programs
July 2001 IRC Education Reinforcement of Previous Peace 1 3 days IRC staff
Staff Education Training

Published 2002
Appendix E: Percentage of Girls’ Attendance in Nimba County
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Published 2002
Appendix F: Percentage of Girls’ Attendance in Bong County
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Published 2002
122 East 42nd Street, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10138
(212) 551-3000
www.theirc.org
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LEVERAGING LEARNING:

Revitalizing Education in Post-Conﬂict Liberia

Review of the International Rescue Committee’s

Copyright © December 2005

Photographs © by International Rescue Committee

International Rescue Committee

Overview of IRC Liberia Education Program 11

Review of IRC Liberia Education Program Components 14

International Rescue Committee

Reviewing the three-year life of the

International Rescue Committee

Table 7 PTA Projects Undertaken Table 36 2001 WAEC Exam Results

Table 9 Matrix of Impact of PTA Project

International Rescue Committee

ADRA Adventist Development and Relief Agency

International Rescue Committee

FIGURE 1: IRC Program Components

International Rescue Committee

International Rescue Committee

International Rescue Committee

Develop the IRC’ s and the

International Rescue Committee

TABLE 1: Focus Groups and Discussion Topics

Realizing that need to unite…for productivity,

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International Rescue Committee

International Rescue Committee

International Rescue Committee

International Rescue Committee

Working Environment: Security and

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Program Assessment, Planning and Start-up Foundation Laying and Funding

TABLE 3: Contributions to the Restarting of the Liberian Educational System

International Rescue Committee

fund for repatriation and reintegration program-

International Rescue Committee

FIGURE 2: Organizational Chart for IRC Liberia Refugee Education Program

Program Manager Program Manager Program Manager

Education Education Education

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International Rescue Committee

International Rescue Committee

International Rescue Committee

International Rescue Committee

International Rescue Committee

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When this issue was discussed during the

TABLE 11: Matrix of Impact of Mentor Program

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Early Childhood Development Training/Support the ABC/KG curriculum, medium-range plan-

TABLE 12: Matrix of Impact of ABC Program

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Impacts of Resource Centers

Improved classroom preparation

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International Rescue Committee

Restarting of Zorzor Rural interim 8-week (later changed to 10 week) cur-

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TABLE 17: Matrix of Impact of CEO/DEO/Principal Training

�� who dropped out due to pregnancy, it was not