Bridge Liberia’s Managing Director, Gbovadeh Gbilia, has called on government leaders across the Continent to prioritize education in domestic budgets and focus on how money is spent, using innovation and technology to advance learning.
Speaking recently at an event in support of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) summit held in London, co-chaired by Kenyan president Kenyatta, MD Gbilia stressed that a fundamental conversation in education circles is one of gender parity as governments consider how best to improve learning equitably, stating, “We see a good number of girls going into primary education and sometimes high school but they drop out most times and do not make it through their education. That is why the conversation needs to start about how we can sustain girls’ education up to the highest level.”
Under the theme, “Better Together: How African Governments can harness the whole science of education to drive learning gains at scale,” the Bridge Liberia managing director was participating in a wide running discussion with African political leaders and policymakers focused on strategies that will improve education for children in Africa.
The debate covered key thematic areas affecting the effective delivery of education in Africa, including political leadership, setting priorities for education, delivering equity in education, technology accountability amongst others.
Commenting on how political leadership is key in transforming education in Africa, Mr. Gbilia emphasized that leadership is important not just in the education sector but all sectors of society and that strong leadership inspires both bigger and smaller partners to support governments once it has been seen to show committed leadership and take the first steps.
Liberia knows the importance of this having led one of the most talked about education public private partnerships in the Continent.
President George Weah and his Minister of Education have both made several visits this year to schools in the programs, emphasizing their personal leadership and commitment.
Bridge Liberia is supporting the Government of Liberia in providing quality teaching and learning in some of the hardest to reach areas to improve learning outcomes.
The partnership has already delivered on some key thematic areas addressed in the discussions and other governments and leaders are now following their example.
Bridge Liberia uses technology as a teaching tool, with teachers uploading lessons to tablets. This technology enables supervisors and school principals to monitor the delivery of lessons at all Bridge Liberia supported schools.
The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Summit which took place on July 28/29 was a vital moment that brought together the global community to drive quality education for all children.
The virtual panel, hosted by New Globe in support of the Global Partnership for Education summit, brought together the Commissioner of Lagos State, Folasade Omobola Adefisayo; New Globe Nigeria Group Managing Director, Omowale David-Ashiru; Kenya’s Ministry of Education Head of ICT, Francis Karanja; and Bridge Liberia’s Managing Director, Gbovadeh Gbilia.
