Project with Wide Impact -WB Manager Elated by New 2 High Schools Commissioning 

MONROVIA – It was a colorful day when the Government of Liberia and major partners, including World Bank Liberia office, commissioned two secondary schools in Gbarnga and Ganta cities on Monday, July 21.

An apparently happy Country Manager of the World Bank was present, and in remarks expressed delight that six years of hard work has paid off.

“Today’s commissioning is a chance to reflect on what makes schools special and why we invest in education,” Georgia Wallen said.

She opined that the bricks and cement that helped to build this space are just the beginning, and that the atmosphere in a secondary school is unique — it’s charged with youthful energy, excitement, noise, laughter, ideas, and problem solving. 

“It’s an atmosphere in which young minds are challenged, memories are made, and young lives are taking shape,” she said. “Today marks the culmination of deep commitment and effort over time.”

She recalled how the Government of Liberia partnered with the World Bank to finance the Improving Results in Secondary Education (IRISE) project, which began in July 2019 — the year before the world was plunged into the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The $47 million investment had a simple but ambitious aim,” she said. “To improve equitable access and equality of secondary education and to provide a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It aimed to impact all public and community senior secondary schools and reach secondary school-age students nationwide along with their teachers.”

She added: “Six years of hard work has paid off!  The project has had wide impacts – improving learning conditions for over a hundred and fifty senior secondary schools; awarding scholarships; recruiting, training and deploying female guidance counselors in all a 156 senior secondary schools; improving the quality of teaching and management of the teaching workforce; producing textbooks in 5 core subjects and distributing them to all public senior secondary schools at a 1:1 ratio; an investing in digital skills and competency development.”

According to Madam Wallen, it also financed the construction. 

She thanked all who have contributed to IRISE over the years, including the World Bank team. 

 “Hearty kudos to Honorable Minister and the Ministry of Education for seeing this to timely and successful completion,” she asserted.

The World Bank officials also noted that the IRISE has delivered exciting and positive results, but ultimately, “they are only inputs towards a bigger goal.  What matters most is that Liberia’s young people can seize the opportunity to get the education they need to unlock their future!”   

She spoke directly to young people, when she said; “We believe in you. You embody the bright, prosperous, and peaceful future of the Republic of Liberia.  Seize this opportunity to learn, to grow, and to discover who you can become.”

She closed with a poem from Chapter 25 of the brand new English Language and Literature textbook for Grade 12, a poem is called Raider of the Treasure Trove by poet Lade Wosornu, which opening lines perfectly capture what she said she wanted to leave with the students:

But what can be worthy of your life?

What dearer then the gems of your dreams —

The reason you are here?

Always strive to fly flags of joy,

and sail up streams, powered by the breeze of love,

your course chartered in the ink of compassion. 

And fling roses wherever you pause

Heaven-on-earth, your destination.

According to her, the textbook goes on to summarize that every human being enters the world with the sole aim of unearthing their destiny. 

“This destiny is the treasure trove.  Finding the treasure trove is your job as a learner in this important time in your life.  Seize the opportunity by making the most of your education!!  Your treasure trove matters for Liberia and the world,” the World Bank Country Manager concluded.