Fourteen beneficiaries of USAID sponsored scholarships ) has sis sponsoring are set to leave the country shortly to pursue their Master’s and Doctorate degrees at selected African Universities.
Qualified students from the University of Liberia (UL) to pursue doctorate studies at the University of Botswana in Gaborone, Botswana, are Cecelia Cassell (Language Education), Joseph Younn (Research and Evaluation) and John Sellu (Education Management).
Romelle Horton from the Cuttington University  will also be doing her PhD in Education Administration and Leadership.

Those qualified for master program at the University of Botswana, in Makekere, Uganda, include Dozmah Peters (Testing and Evaluation), Sheku Dakoi (Education Management) and Sorna Sherif (Education Management) –  all are from the Zorzor Rural Teachers Training Institute (ZRTTI).
Candidates Felicia Nyan (Guidance and Counseling), and Binta Massaquoi (Curriculum and Instruction), are both from the Ministry of Education.

Others pursuing graduate studies at the University of Uganda are George Gallah and Prince Tolbert (both in Mathematics Education). They are both of the Stella Maris Polytechnic.
Also, candidates Johnny Woods (Education Management, Planning and Policy), Ambulia Sirleaf (Mathematics Education) and Patience Garlawolo (Basic Education) are from the William V.S. Tubman University, University of Liberia, and Cuttington University, respectively.
Speaking during the Scholarship Awardess Send-off ceremony, the US Ambassador, Linda Thomas Greenfield congratulated the recipients for their excellence demonstrated during the competition process, and the Ministry of Education for its efforts in strengthening the educational sector in Liberia.

She indicated that since 2006, USAID-Liberia has been working hand-in-hand with the Education Ministry and has spend more than US$35 million, to date, to rebuild a cadre of trained teachers in the country.
For his part, Education Minister Othello E. Gongar praised USAID-Liberia and the American Government for the strong partnership and pray for more support.
He urged the students to be focused and return home.

The students were vetted by the Liberia Teacher Training Program (LTTP), in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.
According to Dr. Khalipah M. Bility, Deputy Chief of Party of the Liberia Teacher Training Program (LTTP), the students were vetted based on merit by a Vetting Committee. Members of that Committee include Dr. Evelyn Kandaka, former Education Minister; Dr. Michael Slewon, Commissioner of High Education;  Dr. Saame Naame, Secretary General, Association of Liberian Universities and Dr. Corrine Anderson, the Liberia Teacher Training Program (LTTP) Pre Service Team Leader.
It may be recalled that in 2007, USAID sponsored nine students for Master Degree at the Cape Coast University in Ghana, totaling the external sponsorship of 23 students.

For domestic sponsorship, USAID has sponsored more than 60 female students at the Teachers’ college of the University of Liberia and over 100 students at different teachers’ training schools in Liberia.