Save the Children Liberia has launched the Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA), an activity of the Local and Regional Procurement (LRP) under the LEARN II project to be rolled out in River Gee and Grand Gedeh Counties.
LEARN II is the Liberia Empowerment Through Attendance, Reading, and Nutrition, being funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the McGovern-Dole International (MGD) Food for Education (FFE) and Child Nutrition Program.
As part of the project objectives, the activity is intended to improve beneficiaries’ livelihood through Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA). The purpose of this activity is to also enable parents to support their children’s education by reinvesting a portion of their revenue into school support aimed at procuring local vegetables, maintain school gardens for school feeding, rehabilitate school facilities, compensate cooks or refurbish book banks.
LEARN II is implemented in four counties of Liberia including Grand Bassa, River Cess, River Gee and Grand Gedeh. The project focuses on improving the literacy of school-age children, increasing the use of good health, nutrition, and dietary practices as well as improving the effectiveness of food assistance through Local and Regional Procurement (LRP).
The launch of VSLA follows a training of Trainers (TOT) workshop. As a result of the TOT across two counties (River Gee and Grand Gedeh), 30 Parent Teachers Associations (PTAs) have the full knowledge of VSLA concept, which they are now replicating in their various school communities to ensure that PTAs are financially able to undertake project-related activities at the community level and support home-grown school feeding for their children.
Participants at the workshop are prioritizing the VSLA concept over the traditional susu club that sometimes leads to disunity amongst its members.
Convinced of the benefits of the Village Savings and Loans Association’s methodology, such as its low interest rate compared to the interest of a bank loan, two District Education Officers promised to form VSLA groups with teachers under their supervision.
The Village Savings and Loans Association will have 10–15 self-selected members with priority to women leadership, holding weekly meetings and deciding on weekly contributions and setting up social collection funds to create access to credit at a preferential rate.
Additionally, when the Village Savings and Loans Association is set up, LEARN II will build its members’ capacity to develop business plans. With the pilot of 30 Parent Teachers Associations (PTAs) reached in August, the project is expected to have a minimum membership of 300.
In August 2024, LEARN II conducted a series of VSLA Training of Trainers (TOT) for 80 individuals including 60 PTAs members from 30 schools in Grand Gedeh and River Gee counties. The training also brought together 15 LEARN II staff, and five Ministry of Education District Education Officers.
