Celebrating the women behind Bridge Liberia
March 8, is celebrated throughout the world as International Women’s Day. Recognized by the United Nations to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, the day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Significant activity is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to celebrate women’s achievements or rally for women’s equality.
Under the global theme “Break the Barriers, Set the Stage for Gender Equality”, the Liberian Government has coined the local theme “ Liberian women in history:breaking the barriers and setting the stage for gender equality.”
This theme coincides with the marking of Liberia’s bi-centennial, ceebrating the return of free black slaves who moved back to Liberia 200 years ago.
In Liberia, there is a national celebration each year, highlighting the Liberian women’s journey in the struggle for women’s rights and women’s empowerment. Women from different professional backgrounds meet at the national event where dignitaries and politicians are all present for the celebration.
This year, for the first time Bridge Liberia women teachers and staff are participating in the national celebration.
Teaching, which is considered one of the most important professions in the world, comes with so many challenges especially in a third world country like Liberia.
With all the many challenges, teachers are expected to improve learning outcomes and lay the foundation for the prosperity of both their communities and countries.
At Bridge Liberia supported schools, women are part of the equation that is empowering a new generation of confident and successful girls.
For instance, according to a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) 5th grade girls’ average performance on reading fluency increased by over 27 words per minute. Once lagging by 10 words per minute, girls now outperform boys.
This statistic, we believe won’t be possible without the women teachers who come to class with passion to deliver world class lessons to students each day.
According to a Study, there is a direct correlation between the number of women teachers and girls’ enrollment, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.
Such studies suggest that women teachers do not only play a significant role in mentoring female students, but female students feel more comfortable when they have a female teacher to look up to for guidance.
Bridge Liberia strategy is to ensure the number of qualified female teachers increases to make the desired impact in Liberia’s education sector. While this process is on, we are wishing the over 600 female teachers at Bridge Liberia supported schools, Happy International Women’s Day.
