USAID Introduces the Education Systems Strengthening Activity to Liberia's New Minister of Education - FrontPageAfrica

Source: Front Page Africa

Monrovia - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) introduced to the new Minister of Education, Dr. Jarso Jallah, its support to the education sector of Liberia, the USAID Education Systems Strengthening Activity, or USAID ESSA. Anh Pham, USAID Education Director, said "USAID's education strengthening support focuses on the areas of increased evidence-based decision-making, improved resource management, and enhanced accountability. We are especially proud that ESSA uses a Ministry-led approach to implementation."

USAID ESSA's primary goal is to support the Ministry of Education (MoE) to strengthen a more effective national and sub-national education system that promotes and evaluates the delivery of quality and inclusive education.

Mr. Haladu Mohammed, USAID ESSA's Chief of Party said, "USAID ESSA is an activity being implemented by FHI 360 in partnership with its local subcontractors ADARA Research and Management Consultancy and Rising Academies, as well as the international firms Deloitte and Inclusive Development Partners (IDP). In the next few years, USAID ESSA will work collaboratively with the MoE to address complex challenges, drive change, and create lasting local solutions that build a more capable MoE through evidence-based decision-making, strengthened resource management, and accountability systems at the central and county levels."

The project will utilize the Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) framework and other processes and pilots to deliver technical assistance aimed at improving ongoing MoE activities like the annual school census (ASC), school quality assessments (SQA), and the implementation of new policies and plans such as the national learning assessment policy, in order to sustainably strengthen key management systems that includes the Education Management Information System (EMIS), human resources, and key performance issues.

USAID ESSA's vision is to establish a dynamic and resilient education ecosystem capable of delivering high-quality, equitable, and inclusive services, while also possessing the capacity for ongoing innovation, adaptation, and improvement. The initiative prioritizes local leadership, ownership, and sustainability from its inception and will operate within and enhance existing systems, structures, policies, and processes of the MoE. By strengthening the capacity of County and District Education Officers and supporting the operationalization of the Education Reform Act of 2011, USAID ESSA will help the MoE to establish a more robust decentralized education system.

Minister Jallah thanked the visiting team, and said she was happy to hear about the interventions, particularly about evidence-based decision-making. "Data is first in planning and making decisions," she said. "It's important to be data-driven and data-informed."

Minister Jallah later mentioned, this project is close to my heart, and as you were talking, I was even thinking about the higher education institutions portion for developing a national clearing house, where students from one university cannot fail and jump to another school. So that institutions have a central system, to look up students that are applying to learning institutions, especially looking up which institutions a student previously attended, and their grade point average."