— Unveils Strategic Reforms at the Ministry of Education
IPNEWS-DOVER: Dr. Jarso Maley Jallah, associate vice president of Student Success and a Delaware State University doctoral alumna, has ended her tenure at Delaware State University to return to take up top job as Liberia’s Education Minister.
However, her reason for returning to her African homeland is also catapulting her up among the most notable alumni of the University.
Dr. Jarso – who became an alumna after completing an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership in 2022 – is returning to Liberia to become its Minister of Education, making her the first among Delaware State University alumni to be appointed to a national top level cabinet post.
Last month, Dr. Jarso, was appointed by Liberian President Joseph Nyumah Boakai, Dr. Jallah – who until recently went by the last name Saygbe – and successfully navigated that country’s cabinet confirmation process that led to the approval of her appointment by the Liberian Senate.
During her confirmation hearing, Dr. Jarso demonstrated a clear understanding of the national education system she will oversee.
“I stand before you as the nominated Minister of Education, deeply aware of the significant challenges and profound responsibilities that come with this role,” Dr. Jarso said during her Jan. 31 confirmation hearing. “Our nation’s education sector faces multifaceted challenges which (President Boakai’s) ARREST agenda – an acronym representing Agriculture, Roads, Rule of Law, Education, Sanitation, and Tourism – aims to address.”
After spending most of her youth years in Liberia, she came to the United States as a teenager and finished her secondary education at Hope High School in Providence, R.I. She then earned a Bachelor of Art in Communications and Sociology and a Master of Art in Counseling, both from Rhode Island College.
After holding posts at the Community College of Rhode Island and the University of Rhode Island, she came to Delaware State University in 2012 to serve as its Director of Academic Advisement for the then-College of Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Technology.
While the current Ministry of Education appointment is a career pinnacle for Dr. Jarso, it is not her first presidential appointment in her native country. In 2016, she left DSU to be appointed by then-Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as the Deputy Director General for Training and Manpower Development at the Liberian Institute for Public Administration.
A change in presidential administration in Liberia two years later brought an end to that appointment, prompting her to return to the DSU, where she became the Executive Director of Advisement for the Office of Student Success in 2019. Two years later she was promoted to Associate Vice President of Student Success.
Dr. Clytrice Watson, Associate Provost of Academic Affairs, said she is thrilled to witness her latest accomplishment after working closely with Dr. Jallah for many years.
“As the Associate Vice President for Student Success at Delaware State University, Dr. Jallah transformed the unit through her collaborative and transformative leadership. Her implementation of programs and processes to support students has set a new standard of excellence,” Dr. Watson said. “We are proud to have had her as a member of the DSU community and look forward to seeing her continued success in her new role as the Minister of Education for the Republic of Liberia.”
Meanwhile, Minister of Education, Dr. Jarso Maley Jallah, convened a significant acquaintance ceremony with Directors and the entire Staff of the Ministry of Education Central Office.
