Liberian-Moroccan Trained Scholars Want Gov’t Prioritize Training of Doctors, Engineers
-say Liberia’s development requires technical skills; promise to partner with Gov’t in that regard
Liberia is at a very critical juncture in its developmental endeavors, and there is a need for the requisite technical knowledge and skills that would help drive the development initiatives, a group of Moroccan-trained Liberian scholars has intimated.
Under the banner, Liberian-Moroccan Trained Scholars (LIMOTS), the group noted that Liberia currently needs more doctors, engineers, and computer scientists instead of accountants, managers.
The head of LIMOTS’ interim leadership, Dorbor Bedell, told newsmen in Monrovia on Tuesday that there’s a need for the government to place priority on sending Liberians abroad for training in professions or disciplines that are more in demand than professions that Liberia has qualified institutions and professionals to train people in.
“We want to urge the government on the kind of professions that students should pursue when they are given scholarships to study outside the country,” Bedell said. “No disrespect to those in the fields of Accounting and Public Administration, but we already have countless of these people. Our universities put out the highest number of graduates in these fields.”
“We don’t need to send people to Morocco to study accounting; rather, it's the sciences or professions that are in demand. Professions like biomedical engineering, for instance, should be given priority,” Bedell said. “We will work with the government to ensure that Liberians seeking opportunity to study in Morocco are the ones wishing to study in rare fields and not management or business when they are already here, stating “we need to train more doctors, engineers and computer scientists.”
The LIMOTS’ interim leadership head, however, disclosed that his organization is poised to work with the government through the Ministry of Education to train more doctors, engineers, and computer scientists.
LIMOTS comprises Liberians who studied in Morocco and obtained various degrees in different disciplines. They are professionals who are currently working in both the government and private sectors. The membership of the group has grown to over 120 members.
It has since become a functional organization with a constitution, an article of incorporation, and is also registered with the Liberia Business Registry.
“We are now registered with the government of Liberia to do business. This shows how serious we are about contributing our quota to our motherland.
Though LIMOTS has a general domain name (limots.org), it has begun the process of creating the organization’s website and other online platforms.
According to Bedell, they have been able to track the majority of their members as far back as 1986 to 2013, and they are following the website, stating, “we have names and pictures, and we are still updating this membership to ensure that we have everyone onboard.”
Bedell said the organization will be involved in huge publicity as most people do not know about the Liberian-Moroccan scholars and their impact on society, thereby creating misinformation that the scholarship was not successful.
He said they will be engaging the government of Liberia through the Ministry of Education to streamline or give potent advice on the scholarship program for students wishing to study in Morocco.
Meanwhile, Bedell said the organization will shortly begin a large sports day with the Chinese-Liberian scholars' association and the Russian-Liberian scholars, which will be held in February of next year.
“This year, we decided to graduate from caretaking and institutionalize ourselves, and those who, for whatever reason, have not been part of the organization can be brought on board. We need to have a new direction now and also be able to correct the wrong,” Saliho A. Donzo, an executive member of the organization, said.
Donzo, who lauded the interim leadership headed by Bedell, said the interim leader has registered the organization, crafted the organization’s constitution, and it is now ready for business.