RTI Partners with USAID to Improve the Quality of Early Education in Liberia

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — RTI International, a nonprofit research and international development institute, is partnering with Liberia’s Ministry of Education and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on a new five-year project that aims to improve the quality of teacher education for instruction in early childhood and primary grades.

The Transforming the Education System for Teachers and Students in Liberia (TESTS) Activity will:

• Strengthen institutional capacity to train teachers to deliver quality instruction;
• Build critical skills for quality teaching; and
• Improve the enabling environment for student teachers, as well as new teachers in their first year of teaching.

“We are proud to further the Government of Liberia and USAID’s sustained efforts to improve education outcomes in Liberia,” said Melinda Taylor, Senior Vice President for International Education at RTI. “Building on work we’ve undertaken in Liberia since 2008, including through the ongoing USAID Read Liberia Activity, we are excited to continue to support the Government of Liberia in progressing toward its goal of providing quality education for all Liberian children.”

At the core of this activity is combating gender imbalances in the teaching workforce and paving ways for children with disabilities to fully access and benefit from an inclusive and equitable learning environment. TESTS will work with at least eight teacher training institutions in USAID/Liberia’s six priority counties—Bong, Grand Bassa, Lofa, Margibi, Montserrado and Nimba—supporting up to two years of full-time study for a minimum of 3,500 teachers. RTI is implementing the TESTS Activity in collaboration with partners, including Mississippi State University, Inclusive Development Partners and Diversified Educators Empowerment Project.

Under the ongoing USAID Read Liberia Activity, which will run through 2022, RTI works to provide quality teaching and learning materials, support teachers, and encourage parent and community engagement in early primary grades. To date more than 122,000 students and more than 2,000 teachers and administrators have benefitted from that project.