BWI’s new Principal outlines vision

Liberia’s premier vocational institution, Booker T. Washington Institute aspires to become a technical university. 

By Ramsey N. Singbeh, Jr., in Margibi 

Kakata, Liberia, July 2, 2024 –Following recent pronouncement by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, who chairs the board of ex-officio of the Booker T. Washington Institute (BWI) to elevate the institution to a technical university, the Principal of BWI, Dr. Nancy T. Freeman, says she envisages the Institute as a polytechnic university.

At a groundbreaking ceremony recently in Margibi, President Boakai promised Margibians and Liberians generally that he will ensure that BWI becomes a technical university, something he assured that his administration is working toward.

In what is seen as support for the president’s vision for the institution, BWI Principal Dr. Freeman, on Saturday, June 29, 2024, during the institution’s 95th anniversary, informed the government, alumni association, and partners that her administration is in discussion with Booker T. Washington High School in Houston, Texas, for a partnership, facility, and student exchange program.

She said the Principal of the United States-based BWI, Dr. Carlos Philips, toured the campus here, paid a courtesy call to President Boakai, and explained the vision for BWI to him.

According to her, the BWI Liberia administration is awaiting a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to be presented to the BWI Board of Governors.

She confirmed that Madam Louise McMillan Siaway, a member of the board, made the connection between BWI Liberia and BWI Houston, Texas.

She also disclosed that BWI’s rebranding will include agriculture at a mega level, auto mechanics, and all other courses currently being taught at the Institute.

According to her, some new studies will include music and drama so that the careers can be taught at a university level for higher performance. She recounts that in the 1980s, Liberia produced movies such as Dowry or Love, Three is a Crowd, Mallawala Ballawala, etc.

She said BWI Liberia is in conversation with Madam Alahan Lark of the USA, granddaughter of the late businessman Tommy Bernard, who is willing to sponsor such school at BWI.

Their conversation with Rev. Kenety Gee introduced the Liberia Career Pathways to BWI. If approved by the board, it will include building the capacity and skills of biomedical engineering technicians in Liberia.

The program will address the gap in capacity and skills for critical intervention in Liberia. It provides world-class technical training for post-secondary students, making them employable in hospitals or clinics as biomedical engineering technicians. When trained, these technicians will be responsible for installing, maintaining, and repairing vital, lifesaving medical equipment.

She noted that the program will promote Liberia’s commitment to expanding TVET education and employment opportunities for the youth.

 At the same time, Dr. Freeman continued that conversation is also ongoing with Flight Lieutenant Moses K. Weefur, Jr., who is interested in introducing flight training at BWI as his way of giving back to Liberia because his father was the first Liberian Principal of BWI. 

She outlined her vision for BWI, where students, staff, and instructors will endure far better learning and impartation.

However, the call for BWI to be elevated to a technical university has lingered in government for long, beginning with the administration of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to now President Joseph Boakai. Editing by Jonathan Browne