LIBERIAAID

Core Education Skills for Liberian Youth

Volume 1 #2 YMCA Building, Crown Hill, October 2010

CESLY UPDATEOffice: 7th Floor, Ministry of Education

USAID/CESLY Launches Field Testing of the Nonformal Education Curriculum in LiberiaSAID/CESLY recently launched a field testing of first semester of level 1 nonformal education U

curriculum in Montserrado, Bong, Lofa, Nimba, Grand and Maryland Counties.

The field testing of the curriculum has been preceded by a long history of undertakings in order to produce the first semester of curriculum for nonformal education Level 1. The nine month curriculum development process began with series of consultative meetings at the Ministry of Education, the later formation of Nonformal Education Technical Working Group, and the convening of a wide variety of governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders in

NFE Learners in session

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n September 9, the Ministries of Education and Youth and Sports, signed a OMemorandum of

Understanding (MOU) with The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Core Education Skills for Liberian Youth (CESLY) Project, to help provide Liberian youth with up to 3,000 apprenticeship training opportunities and jobs. The program will provide apprenticeship training at local businesses and workshops for up to ten months with the trainees remaining on the job as salaried employees after the apprenticeship period is completed.

Pamela A. White, Mission Director, signed on behalf of USAID/Liberia; while Acting Minister Sam Hare and Minister E. Othello Gongar signed on behalf of the Ministries of Youth and Sports and Education.

In her remarks, USAID D i r e c t o r P a m W h i t e e m p h a s i z e d U S A I D ' s commitment to helping Liberian youth move into the world of work such as the apprenticeship program as well as USAID's assistance to the MOE in developing the new non-formal education curriculum for youth and adults.

Ministries of Education, Youth and Sports Sign Memorandum of Understanding with USAID to Provide Apprenticeships and Jobs

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L to R: Acting Minister of Youth & Sports, Sam Hare; Minister of Education, E. Othello Gongar; USAID Mission Director, Pam

White; and CESLY Program Director, Martin Schulman signing for their respective institutions

education, workforce development, health

and many other sectors. These multi-sectoral stakeholders reviewed existing curriculum in the areas of literacy, numeracy, life skills and work related learning from within and beyond Liberia's borders. The stakeholders debated, voted and came to consensus around the goals, objectives, possible outcomes, content areas, levels and equivalency relationships of the curriculum. Those convened chose to utilize a standards-based framework for curriculum development.

The result of these inputs was the development of a nonformal education system that targets youth and adults, between ages

A highlight of the ceremony was the address by Ms. Janet Torkolon one of the apprent iceship candidates who touchingly described the importance of this program on her life and her family.

The memorandum of understanding seeks to help up to 3000 accelerated learning program graduates from CESLY-assisted schools in Lofa, Bong, Nimba, Grand Gedeh and Maryland Counties to acquire technical on-the-job training to be followed by jobs in formal and non-formal businesses. In the MOU Ministry of youth and Sports expresses its intention to provide initial packages of materials to the businesses in the program as well as materials to the apprentices upon completion of the program. USAID, through CESLY, will provide monthly stipends to the apprentices. The Ministry of Education

will provide academic support of the program.

At the signing ceremony two other international organizations also expressed their interest in supporting the program with the objective of expanding its reach in the future. These were the Internat iona l Labor Organization, represented by Mr. Dennis Zulu, and the Open Society Institute, represented by Dr. Aleesha Taylor. The pilot phase of the apprenticeship program will begin in October 2010, with 150 Accelerated Learning Program graduates on board in Lofa and Bong counties. This helps accelerated learning graduates link their skills to the world of work.

Already, service providers for the apprenticeship program have been

identified; while the 150 graduates selected for the pilot phase recently underwent basic training in Introduction to Work Readiness focusing on conduct and attitudes. In addition, 12 accelerated learning teachers were t r a i n e d i n Wo r k

Memorandum of Understanding

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15 and above, and is focused on helping learners attain the possible outcomes o f : a c q u i s i t i o n o f b a s i c literacy/numeracy skills, entry into the world of work, preparation for job skills training or transition into the formal school system, with primary school equivalency being earned through progression through the program.

The objectives of the nonformal education system are to enable young adults who are not enrolled in formal schooling to:1. Read and write 2. Use mathematics in daily life 3. Acquire livelihood skills or prepare

for vocational skills training, apprenticeship, wage employment or self-employment;

4. Acquire skills and knowledge needed for daily living such as: good health and environmental practices, and the skills to live peacefully;

5. Return to formal schooling if they so choose;

6. Become productive, informed and loyal citizens of the republic and actively participate in the national decision making process;

7. Meaningfully contribute to the development of the nation, and

8. Through Nonformal education, enable the nation to reduce or eradicate i l l i teracy, pover ty, dependency, violence and crime by helping Liberians to make good use of the skills they already have as well

as to learn new marketable skills to make a living, manage their resources, and acquire further learning.

Following the development of the overall framework for nonformal education, a curriculum writing workshop was conducted in which sectoral specialists debated and came to a consensus on a template for development of lessons and modules that would guide the curriculum. The subject specific groups reviewed the competency frameworks and developed draft modules and lessons. From there, the curriculum writing process began, with writing and revision, in order to craft lessons that were engaging, content-rich and appropriately suited to the level of the teachers and students. The result is a set of curriculum in numeracy, work readiness, and life skills for the first semester of Level 1 of the nonformal education curriculum.

The curriculum is being field tested in 90 sites in Montserrado, Bong, Lofa, Nimba, Grand and Maryland Counties. The field testing is expected to give input on issues such as: the scope and sequence of content, whether learning activities are engaging, whether the content and language used are appropriate to the level of the instructors and learners, whether particular activities need modification, what type of teacher training is needed in order for teachers and facilitators to be able to effectively deliver the content. The results from this field testing will be

used to improve the curriculum so that it can be finalized and scale up to reach a larger cohort of learners.

Prior to the launch of the field testing, a massive mobilization campaign was launched in June 2010 in the six counties to recruit and/or identify learners for the new program. This campaign continued through out the summer into September 2010 in line with the launch of the program on September 6. Following the start of the program, technical specialists and county level field staff from the CESLY project covered every county providing reinforcement, support and oversight to help the pilot nonformal education sites (as well as accelerated learning sites) start up and mobilize classes. In order to ensure that facilitators deliver the proper content areas to learners, the USAID/CESLY Technical team specialists that were deployed in all 90 sites observed and monitored classroom content delivery and quality of facilitating.

Since the launch of nonformal education into the field, learners have been enthusiastic about the program, as demonstrated by their mass turn out. One learner in Garmu, Bong County, commented, “Thank you for bringing this school business in our town. I myself I will learn how to read and write my own letter and count numbers, so nobody will bluff me again.”

Ms. Janet Torkolon, ALP Graduate

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the books were being stored and packed for distribution.

The YMCA), in collaboration with the USAID-Supported Core Education Skills for Liberian Youth (CESLY), began the books distribution exercise on 15th August 2010 and is ongoing.

USAID also donated 15 computer laptops for use by County Education Officers.

The procurement, shipment and delivery of the textbooks are part of

the US Government’s efforts to assist the Government of Liberia in improving the quality of education in Liberia. Through USAID, the U S government has committed over $USD 55 million to the education sector over the last two years.

he United States Agency for International Development T(USAID) on Monday, 2nd

August 2010, handed over 310,695 textbooks, covering English, Math, Science and Agriculture to the Ministry of Education (MoE) for use by government primary and junior high schools throughout Liberia. The ceremony was held at the MoE warehouse on Newport Street, Monrovia. The delivery of the textbooks is in response to MoE’s request to USAID over two years ago, to help in providing textbooks for Liberian children.

Printed by the Pearson and Longman Publishing House of Ghana and the Evans Publishing House of Sierra Leone, the cost of the textbooks is about US$1.5 Million (One and One H a l f M i l l i o n U n i t e d S t a t e s Dollars).These books wil l be distributed to grades 1, 7, 8 and 9.

Grade 1 will receive both English and Math Books; while the English, Math, Science and Agriculture books will be used by Grades 7, 8 and 9. Also included in this package are teacher’s guides which will help teachers teach these books properly.

In order to adequately use these textbooks to enrich and make the contents more relevant, USAID, in July 2010, also financed training of teachers on how to make use of these books.

Key personalities who attended the ceremony and addressed the invitees included the Minister of Education, E. Othello Gongar and USAID’s Mission Director, Pam White. CESLY’s Program Director, Martin Schulman; and YMCA’s National Secretary, Edward Gboe also addressed the gathering. The guests were led on a tour of the warehouse by Mabel Kear of the YMCA who showed them how

USAID Delivers Over 300,000 Textbooks toMinistry of Education

USAID Mission Director, Pam White

Boxes of textbooks at the warehouse

Education Minister, E. Othello Gongar

Readiness Skills to enable them provide mentoring to graduates. In addition, USAID/CESLY is working with the Liberia Entrepreneur Assep Development (LEAD) to provide micro loan to graduates who are presently engaged in business ventures in Bong, Nimba and Montserrado Counties. As a prerequisite to the loan process, LEAD is carrying out a business appraisal of

identified graduates to confirm their eligibility. Following this process, LEAD will conduct a two-day workshop on entrepreneurship and how to manage business before disbursing loans to graduates who wi l l meet the requirements.

Under the CESLY program, Accelerated Learning Program graduates have the

option either to continue to junior high school (7th Grade) or to engage in other ventures like business, carpentry and mechanic through apprenticeship for their livelihoods. Similarly, the Nonformal Education Program (NFE) is designed to allow graduates to exit into four main pathways: obtain basic literacy and numeracy skills for living, entering the world of work, successfully transitioning to vocational skills training or apprenticeships, or re-entering the formal school system.

Memorandum of Understanding

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USAID/CESLY Conducts Nonformal Education and Accelerated Learning In-Service Training for over 1100 Teachers

ome of the debilitating effects of Liberia's prolonged years of civil Supheaval are portrayed by the

large numbers of youth who turned adults earliest, became idles and missed out educational opportunities. In order to rekindle their hope for a better future, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through its Core Education Skills for Liberian Youth (CESLY) project recently conducted an In-Service Training (IST) for facilitators of its Nonformal Education (NFE) and Accelerated Learning programs for Liberian youth and adults. The training concentrated on the Nonformal education four content areas of Literacy, Numeracy, Work Readiness and Life Skills as well as the accelerated learning four subjects of Math, Science, Language Arts and Social Studies.

From 16th to 25th August 2010, master trainers from the training of trainer work shop were dep loyed i n USAID/CESLY operated counties of Lofa, Montserrado, Bong, Nimba, Grand Gedeh and Maryland, where they trained over 1100 nonformal education facilitators, accelerated learning

teachers and principals, for both nonformal education and accelerated learning programs.

The ten-day intensive training dwelled on strategies on facilitating for older youth and adults -especially for

b e g i n n e r a n d mature learners, e x p o s u r e t o various modules of the nonformal e d u c a t i o n curr i cu l um i n accordance with the content areas. Teacher carried out numerous micro-teaching lessons where they themselves enacted model teaching in the four content areas of literacy, reading, numeracy, math work readiness and life skills. In order to have mastery over every content area, facilitators were placed into content-area where they gained in-depth knowledge of the subject matter they are responsible for teaching. Principals attended sessions on all content areas including reading, literacy, math, numeracy, life skills and work readiness in order to better prepare them to supervise classes and support teachers.

After years of war where the e d u c a t i o n a l system was not f u n c t i o n a l , t e a c h e r s themselves missed out on a strong e d u c a t i o n a l foundation. It is w i t h i n t h i s c o n t e x t , t h a t delving into the core content of reading and math awakened a real passion among teachers. They were particularly

m e s m e r i z e d w i t h phonics. They also were stimulated by a focus on reading comprehension- not just being able to sound things out but being able to construct meaning out of written communication.

Teachers spent significant time

practicing newly learned skills through micro-teaching of demonstration lessons. While at first they were shy and reticent, teachers became stronger and more capable through practice. They were subject to rigorous (and vocal!) critique from their peers which really helped to ground the teachers and refine their newly learned skills. They did not stop at the point of receiving a handout and taking it home to collect dust. Rather they had to put into action the skills they learned. One of the most valuable changes witnessed through the In-service training was a shift from one way teacher-centered delivery of instruction, to participatory methods of facilitating that draw on and build learners input.

While teacher absenteeism and lack of time on task in the class is a huge problem in Liberian classroom, you could see teachers became fascinated with developing their new skills. In several of the training sites, teachers clamored for additional practice and requested their trainers to provide additional tutorial and practice sessions in the evening.

Teachers, principals and trainers spoke of a certain “euphoria”, “synergy”, and “positive poison” that infected the group by Day 6 of the nine- day training. Teachers left the training with a passion unlocked that would propel their teaching and serve as a foundation to provide quality education t h r o u g h t h e n e x t

At the Nimba County session, a female master trainer facilitating literacy component (specifically in reading-sound of letters)

In Maryland County, facilitators share notes on work readiness modules

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academic year.

MOE Education Officers were thoroughly engaged in every location of the training-providing administrative and technical support when needed. To buttress the presence of MOE staff at the training, two officials from the Ministry, Mr. Paye Nuhann-Director for Adult Education and Mr. Alphonso Sheriff-National Coordinator for Accelerated Learning Program, attended the closing ceremony in Bong county where they admonished participants to pass on the knowledge acquired to learners to ensure the future of their communities and Liberia.

Assistant Minister Kessely also spent significant time with teachers at the Grand Gedeh p r o g r a m , elaborating for t e a c h e r s a n d facilitators their k e y r o l e s i n making education relevant for over-age youth.

“Even though we have had some f o r m o f n o n formal education

(adult literacy) in Liberia, there has

never been anyone trained to teach these category of people and to even have these components of work readiness and life skills which have been introduced by CESLY is a strange concept,” Mr. Nuhann, Director for Adult Education at the Liberia Ministry of Education reveals.

Following the In-service training, a number of participant facilitators talked to, expressed gratitude to USAID/ CESLY for the training-especially the components of non formal education, work readiness and life skills. “We did not know the importance of these two areas, but with new knowledge gotten

from this training, we will help our learners as well as communities to wake up,” said a female facilitator.

The in-service training for teachers and principals was preceded by a Nonformal Education Orientation and Training of Trainers Workshop for 110 MOE education officers (EOs) from Liberia's 15 counties and 70 teacher master trainers at the Catholic Pastoral Center in Gbarnga, Bong County. The first three days of the training concentrated entirely on orientating education officers and Master Trainers on the use and contents of the nonformal education curriculum. The rest of the days were characterized by the training of master trainers to enable them master the new concepts in the curriculum.

Says Victoria Niwen, Director of Primary Education for Montserrado County who attended the In-service Training in Kakata, Aug 16-Aug 25, 2010,

"There is a serious need for reading and spelling and that of pronunciation for the participants (the teachers). That's a weakness that I observed and need to take note of. Some of the participants cannot read well, nor spell correctly, not even to mention pronunciation, but all is not lost there is great room for improvement.

Micro-teaching I think needs to be given more than the usual attention. From my observation, I could see that some of the participants had shortcomings, but with time and constant practice they will do better.

The facilitating team was amazing. The presenters were very enthusiastic, and were willing to accept and apply relevant ideas put forward by their supporting team. I strong believe that the facilitating team was good.

Having said this, I think the need for t h i s w o r k s h o p c a n n o t b e overemphasized. It was timely and every aspect of it was welcomed with great interest and appreciation. This workshop actually built up and strengthened the participants. I am fully convinced that they are now ready for the opening of school. Application of what they learned is what counts. If they do, USAID/CESLY will have achieved something.”

MOE Officials who graced the In-service Training closing ceremony, Mr. Alphonso Sheriff (left) and Mr. Paye Nuhann (right)

American Congressional Delegation Visits Learning Resource Center seven member delegation of spouses of American Congress Am e m b e r s v i s i t e d t h e

Montserrado Learning Resource Center in Monrovia on 5th July 2010. The purpose of the visit was to acquaint themselves with activities of the Learning Resource Center. The visit to the Learning Resource Center formed part of the activities of the Congressional Delegation to Liberia where a number of institutions and organizations were visited. Upon arrival, Learning Resource Center Team Leader, Ms. Josephine Greaves oriented the delegation to the Learning Resource provision of services to the public, including internet access, library services, extracurricular reading programs and other educational activities. Later, the delegation was led on a tour of the facilities which include library and computer lab. Following the tour, the

delegation also visited the reading room located on the ground floor of the Learning Resource Center where a children reading circle was held.

A partial view of delegation members

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USAID Mission Director ToursUSAID/CESLY-Supported Schools

SAID-Liberia Mission Director, Pamela White, recently toured a

number of USAID/Supported Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) USchools

in Nimba County

w h e r e s h e

o b s e r v e d

activities of the

classroom such

as the quality of

teaching and the

level of students’

response to their

lessons.

Schools visited

i n c l u d e t h e

Flumpa Public

School in Flumpa

Town, Saclepea

District, Kpiekpoa Public School in Kpiekpoa Town, Saclepea District, and the

Area B Public School in Yekepa, Saniquellie-Mah District.

At each school visited, Director White stressed the need for teachers to engage

students with classroom activities that are participatory and invoke critical

thinking. Touching on students' performance especially in the area of reading and

numeracy, she directed engaged with teachers and students on the reading skills

they demonstrated and the posing of questions.

USAID Mission Director Pamela White was accompanied by a number of core

staff from USAID, including Julia Richards, Ann Fleuvet and Elena Andreotti; while

the USAID/CESLY Staff included Program Director, Martin Schulman, Teachers

Training Specialist, Moses Kwalula as well as Nimba County Learning Resource

Center (LRC) Staff.

Ministry of Education,

USAID/CESLY Launch Back to

School Campaign

USAID's Mission Director, Pamela White sits with students and observes classroom activities

he Ministry of Education, in

partnership with the USAID-TSupported Core Education

Skills for Liberian Youth (CESLY) on

Saturday, 28 August 2010, launched a

Back-to-School Campaign leading to

the commencement of Academic

2010/2011.

The campaign was launched throughout

the length and breadth of the country,

and was characterized by series of

activities including sports, indoor

programs at various schools as well as

the use of communication outlets like

print (newspapers, stickers) as well as

electronic (radio, television, text

messages) to convey back to school

messages to all school age children in

Liberia. For instance, some of the

messages read: “I love school,” “I want to

go to school for a bright future”, and

“School is safe.”

USAID/CESLY produced stickers and

other communication materials to

ensure the success of the campaign.

USAID/CESLY also promoted the

holding of the celebration occurred at

CESLY- supported school sites.

Students parading through the principal streets of Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County during the campaign

Accelerated Learning Teacher Uses Games and Oral Traditions to

Promote Reading n an effort to improve the quality of teaching in the classroom, the United IStates Agency for International

Development (USAID), through its Core Education Skills for Liberian Youth (CESLY) program conducts periodic in-service and refresher training sessions for Accelerated Learning Program Teachers. In January 2010, with more than 1000 teachers in attendance. The objective of these was to strengthen teachers’ skills in teaching reading, effective pedagogy and time on task. Following these training interventions, teachers

No one can be considered educated, when he or she cannot read… -Mr. Samuel T. Wanikee, Accelerated Learning Teacher Page 7:

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Mother of 3 Takes the 6th Grade Equivalency Examave you ever heard the adage “Whatever the mind can Hperceive, it can achieve?”

Well, this is the case with a young woman, who despite being illiterate, vowed to change her status and is now serving as role model in her community. Mrs. Josephine Sirleaf is a 33 year old woman whose livelihood was based on farming. She never believed, at her age, that it would be possible to go to school again to acquire a basic education. Josephine, however, was inspired when she realized that individuals of her age group were going to CESLY schools and transforming their lives through education.

“I was going to school in Voinjama before the war, but after everything settled down I started farming just to feed me and my children. I never knew that even with my age I could still go to school to learn something to improve me and my children living condition, but the thing

that really made enter school is every time when I go to Voinjama, I see some of my friends who were born the same t ime going to school and even finishing school and working,” says Josephine.

Joseph ine was p a r t i c u l a r l y m o t i v a t e d t o change because of the disparity between her own education level and that of her husband. “Another thing that moved me is that my husband is educated and the Principal for the Mama Dukuly Public School. I used to ask myself, “Why can’t I find my way there to sit among my friends who are going there at night to ALP Youth classes?” All of these

things used to make me sad, so I said to myself, I can go to school and be like them, too”.

Based on this internal motivation, Josephine chose to join the USAID-supported Accelerated Learning Program, Level I, at the Mama Dukuly Public School (Youth) in Zenalormai

Town, Lofa County. She completed three levels of the accelerated learning program classes providing her with the equivalent of a 6th grade education. Josephine was very proud when at the end of three years, she was able to take the West African Examination Council (WAEC) Exams for Level III. She is currently awaiting her results. Josephine is not only a student, she has also become a role model in her community. She is now serving in a new capacity as Secretary General for the Zenalormai Town Women Development A s s o c i a t i o n ( Z W D A ) , a n d Spokesperson/Mobilizer for Zenalor Town to encourage female participation in school.

Josephine says, “I want the youth school to continue in this town so that others can follow after my example, especially the young girls. In fact, from the little education I have and the things I am doing with it, I will not stop going to school until I graduate from high school, go to college and sit in the office to work and earn living from it, too. I want to tell my friends that you can do anything in this world once you put your foot down to do it.”

took their newly gained knowledge to implement in the classroom. Mr. Samuel Wanikee, a Lofa teacher, proved to be particularly innovative at implementing effective techniques for teaching reading in his classroom.

Mr. Samuel Wanikee is an accelerated learning Language Arts and Social Studies Teacher at the Mambo Public School in Mambo Town, Lofa County. In order to help students and community members develop a culture of reading, Mr. Wanikee crafted games to promote oral fluency, reading fluency, and connection between letters.

In one case, he developed text for reading lessons by collecting oral traditional stories from community members. He wrote down and edited the stories, and then placed them both in the classrooms and in selected locations around the community. Through these stories people were able to learn and understand the elements of reading for effective comprehension.

“My desire to help the little ones to adapt the culture of reading grew from the fact that no one can be considered educated, when he or she cannot read…because every subject-be it

mathematics, science, social studies or language arts is built on reading,” Mr. Wanikee observes. “In fact, that is why I devote my time to developing these games so that the youth and even the elderly in the community can take an interest in reading. I can tell you that since our return from the training and with the emphasis I placed on reading in every class that I teach, the results have been rewarding.”

Mr. Wanikee forms part of a larger project-wide emphasis on promoting a culture of reading at the school and community levels. In August 2010, Mr. Wanikee attended another In-service Training in which he sharpened his skills in phonemic awareness, decoding, sight word recognition and vocabulary development. Mr. Wanikee also sharpened his skills in utilizing techniques for enhancing reading comprehension, like context clues, cause and effect, inference, sequencing, summarizing, distinguishing fact and opinion, and other techniques.

Mr. Wanikee intends to continue creating awareness by establishing a reading and writing club comprised of teachers, students and community members at his local school.

Accelerated Learning Teacher Uses Games and Oral Traditions

Mrs. Josephine Sirleaf in class with colleagues

“What others can do, I can also do !” - Josephine Sirleaf

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MOE’S USAID/CESLY-supported Schools Celebrate International Literacy Day with Reading Competitions

and Celebrationsh i l e l i t e r a c y h a s c o nve n t i o n a l l y b e e n Wdescribed as the ability to

read and write, the Liberian Ministry of Education’s new nonformal education curriculum describes literacy used in a broader way, to include basic communication skills. It defines basic literacy as being able to: read with understanding, write to share ideas and information, speak so others can understand, listen actively. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has also long highlighted the importance of literacy, noting that it involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society. Within this context, in 1965, UNESCO p ro c l a i m e d S e p t e m b e r 8 a s International Literacy Day (ILD) in order to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies around the world. Today, with millions of people in the world still not literate, educational institutions, organizations a n d c o m m u n i t i e s a n n u a l l y commemorate the day in order to highlight progress achieved and encourage renewed efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals. In Liberia, the USAID-Supported Core Education Skills for Liberian Youth (CESLY) schools festively celebrated International Literacy Day across six counties—Bong, Nimba, Maryland, Lofa, Grand Gedeh and Montserrado. Across the nation, reading focused interactions were lively and competitive including quizzing, reading, spelling and mini-dramas conveying important educational messages. The students were very passionate and some literally cried when a team member got an answer to a quiz question wrong. Says one attendee, “ I was deeply shocked and touched by this level of positive competitive spirit among the youth!”At the Point 4 Elementary School in Montserrado County, a reading and spelling competition was also held where students were zealous to participate in the activities marking the day. A competition was occurred between Accelerated Learning Level III A and B, covering the basic components of reading (identification of sight words,

proper decoding and pronunciation of words, oral fluency, comprehension of meaning, etc). The competition was tense, with the teams scoring points neck in neck- - a situation that kept the audience amused from beginning to end. The three judges were also kept on their heels by marking points and ensuring that there was no foul play during the process. Although tough, Level III B became the victor with 14 points, while Level III A lost with 12 points.At Zorgowee Public School in Nimba Coun ty, s pe l l i n g and re ad i n g competitions were conducted between accelerated learning level III youth vs. children in conventional formal school grades 5 & 6. The accelerated learning team won the spelling contest but neither triumphed over the other in the reading contest! Zorgowee school students also dramatized a play let depicting students overcoming their struggle to attend the accelerated learning program as overage youth. Officials at the occasion highlighted on the significance of the festival as it relates to reading progress in Liberia.At the Charles D. B. King Elementary School in Montserrado, the day was celebrated by singing of educational songs, reading of news by selected students, and reading of printed poster materials with talks given by students to clarify the concepts. In order to encourage and continuously

promote the culture of reading, the CESLY project presented a dictionary at each school site in honor of International Literacy Day. In one Montserrado county, the Learning Resource Center presented copy books to the selected competition participants in schools where the day was observed.In a national level celebration, Liberia’s Deputy Minister for Instruction reiterated the nation’s commitment to literacy, detailing its plan to finalize a nonformal education policy to guide implementation of literacy programming with the collaboration of UNESCO and the USAID/CESLY project. He encouraged all Liberian parents and grandparents to ensure that their children are in school. To commemorate the occasion, the CESLY Writing Contest was announced. Each learner was invited to submit their own submission of an original story. Students were encouraged to think about what would be interesting for other Liberian youth from all around the country to read. It could be a real life story, it could be inspirational, it could be hopeful. It could bring unity, or it could show others how they can reach their potential. CESLY also encouraged youth to sit with elders in their communities and write down oral traditions in the vernacular into written English so that other Liberians around the country could learn about the stories unique to each community. Selected stories will be compiled, edited, published and used as literature to be distributed to participating schools. These efforts highlight the significance of reading, in accordance with the overriding objective of CESLY to support the Ministry of Education’s efforts to improve the quality of basic reading and numeracy skills as well promote the culture of reading among Liberian youth and adults enrolled in Accelerated Learning and Non Formal Education programs. The USAID/CESLY project continues to support the Ministry of Education in increasing access to and improve educational opportunities and outcomes for Liberian youth and young adults.

A competing team at the Point 4 Elementary School

CESLY Update is produced by the Communications/Outreach Section

of the USAID-Supported Core Education Skills for Liberian Youth

(CESLY). YMCA Building, Crown Hill-Broad Street, Monrovia;

Email: ceslyupdate@yahoo.com; Cell: (231) 6 579961