A Liberian teacher currently teaching physics at the Tappeh Memorial High School in Nimba County has won the African Union Continental ‘Best Teacher Award’ for 2025, having been nominated for the competition by the Education Ministry this year to represent Liberia.
Mr. Allen A. Thomas, who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from the ABC University in Nimba County, was nominated with a female colleague for the competition, as this is the first time Liberia is participating since the intellectual competition was established in 2019.
Mr. Thomas emerged as the winner among ten of Africa’s best teachers, with two coming from each region, as every African nation was represented from the preliminary stage of the competition, with two teachers.
Prior to his latest achievement on the African Continent, Mr. Thomas, who has devoted his entire career to teaching with over ten years’ experience in the classroom, was recognized in 2023 by the Ministry of Education as ‘Liberia’s National Best Teacher’, and in 2024, took Liberia to the international stage as a Mandela Washington Fellow.
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The formal ceremony to present his award by the African Union is expected to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this year.
In appreciation of the pride he has just brought to the country, the Ministry of Education (MOE) held an honoring and recognition program for him over the weekend at its edifice in the EJS Ministerial Complex in Congo Town, outside Monrovia.
Speaking at the occasion, Education Minister Dr. Jarso Maley Jallah revealed that it all began in May 2015 when she and her delegation attended the Africa Federation for Teaching Regulatory Authorities (AFTRA) conference in Lubango, Angola. “It was at this significant gathering that we made a passionate and strategic advocacy for Liberia’s participation in the African Union’s Continental Best Teacher Award,” Dr. Jallah explained.
She told a gathering of education stakeholders, which included representatives from AU, UNESCO, the Local Education Group (LEG), and the National Teachers Association of Liberia (NTAL), that her plea had been heard and respected, resulting in a Liberian teacher from rural Liberia participating in and winning the competition.
Dr. Jallah described Mr. Thomas as not just a teacher, but a visionary. Through the Best Teacher Initiative, which he founded, he has mentored other teachers, helped build professional capacity in marginalized areas, and sparked conversations about excellence in education at a national level.
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The Education Ministry boss then lauded the National Vetting and Nomination Committee for the Liberian Best Teacher Awards and the African Union Continental Teacher Award 2025 for working diligently and transparently to identify educators who reflect the best of Liberia’s teaching profession.
In response, Mr. Thomas thanked the MOE for his nomination, saying the ministry’s vision to uplift and professionalize the teaching profession is making a lasting difference in the country.
He then dedicated the award to students, teachers who taught him, the Center of Excellence -Teacher Education Bureau at the MOE, and most especially to teachers working under challenging conditions in rural Liberia, saying, ‘Your work matters, your impact is immeasurable.’
According to him, the award represents not only Liberia but the West African region, noting that teaching is not only a profession but a calling to illuminate minds, open doors to opportunities, and sow seeds of hope to communities often forgotten or underserved. -Courtesy Joeseph Chilley