rough rural teacher training institutes (RTTIs). Teacher education programs conducted by Cuttington University College and the University of Liberia are separate from either of the aforementioned programs. The Liberian government participates in the funding of all of these programs, although the greatest proportion for the donor assisted programs comes from foreign sources. The extent to which these various programs were designed to complement one another and the success of such efforts were examined in this study.
This study attempted to identify the problems affecting the production of trained teachers in Liberia, and, in so doing, emphasized both the pre service and the in service education of teachers. Where possible, this study isolated the findings related to specific types of teacher education programs. In some instances, however, teacher education in Liberia was treated in this study as a unity.
Studies of the educational system in Liberia have frequently cited the quality of teaching in the country's schools as a major problem confronting efforts to increase school attendance and literacy (Ministry of National Planning and Economic Affairs, and Ministry of Education, 1988, pp. 4.13, 5.9). Moreover, a significant problem has also existed with respect to the distribution of students in teacher education programs. As an example, only 9.9 percent of the students enrolled in the Teachers College of the University of Liberia in 1987 majored in primary education, while the great majority majored in secondary education (Ministry of National Planning and Economic Affairs, and Ministry of Education, 1988, pp. 6.5 6.10). This situation reflects a continuing trend that has further exacerbated the supply of primary teachers.
Further, both enrollment in and graduation from teacher training programs generally in Liberia have been in decline since 1984. As an example of the latter, the number of Bachelor degrees in teaching a...