04/08/2026
SPECIAL STATEMENT BY
MR. G. AUGUSTINE DAHN
THE FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT
OF THE ACIDA TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE, AT THE 4TH GRADUATION CEREMONY OF KARNPLAY BRANCH
OPENING AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
✓ Madam Precious Joy Teeweh, Graduation Speaker
✓ Hon. Aloysius Kpah, District Education Officer (DEO) of Gbehlay-Geh Education District.
✓ Distinguished Guests
✓ Executives and Members of our Board of Trustees
✓ Faculty and Staff
✓ Graduating Students
✓ Parents, Guardians, Friends and Well-wishers.
✓ Partners in Education
✓ Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen:
May we kindly stand to observe a moment of silence for one of our students we lost, Mr. Peter W. Berh, who passed out a week to their final exam.
May God grant his soul mercy to rest in glory!
Please have your seats!
It is with profound gratitude to God Almighty and a deep sense of responsibility that I stand before you today as Founder and President of the ACIDA Teacher Training College.
Today is not just another graduation, but a day another history is being made.
Four years ago we planted a seed in Nimba County when we announced the establishment of a teacher training program.
Today, that seed has become a forest of qualified teachers.
Distinguished platform guests, ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to report to you something that proves God’s faithfulness and favor upon ACIDA.
Since the inception of our operations in this district in 2022, our enrollment has grown steadily
When we opened ACIDA Teacher Training College – Karnplay Branch in 2022, we started with just 5 students.
In 2023, the number grew to thirteen (13).
In 2024, our enrollment again grew to 22, and this year, 2026, we are graduating 30 students out of 35 that enrolled.
We see this exponential growth not as a coincidence, but confidence.
This confidence signifies that the people of Gbehlay-Geh Education District are saying: "We trust ACIDA to train our teachers."
I want to say "thank you" Gbehlay-Geh Education District for reposing your confidence in us - we will not betray that confidence.
ACIDA has come to Gbehlay-Geh Education District to stay until Christ returns.
We thank the past and current DEOs for working with ACIDA to expand and improve the quality of teacher education in the district.
As we report our enrollment growth, it tells us one thing: the need for qualified teachers is real, and ACIDA is answering the call, and we will not stop until every district in Nimba has an ACIDA-trained teacher in its classroom.
Distinguished platform guests, ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you with pride, burden, and with conviction.
Pride in what God has done and continues to do.
Burden for what Liberia still needs.
And conviction that teachers will rebuild this nation.
THE STATE OF OUR NATION - THE URGENCY
Let me be direct: Liberia is in a crisis of learning.
We have schools without teachers.
We have teachers without training.
We have children who can sit in class for 12 years and still not read.
You cannot build a great nation on a weak foundation.
And the foundation of every nation is the CLASSROOM.
That is why ACIDA exists.
That is why Karnplay Branch exists.
We are not only here to award certificates.
We are here to produce solutions.
Like Elijah in 1 Kings 18:30, we found an altar torn down — the altar of teacher training — and we said: “We will repair it.”
We will not wait for someone else to do the repairs, We will do it ourselves.
WHAT WE HAVE DONE - ACCOUNTABILITY
In 4 years, ACIDA Teacher Training College has produced qualified teachers and school administrators across Nimba many of whom government paid teachers while others are administrators in private schools.
To our faculty: You did more than teaching, you mentored and you sacrificed.
I can assure you that Liberia will remember you.
Thank you!
To parents: Thank you for trusting us with your children and supporting their academic journey.
THE CHARGE TO GRADUANDS - YOUR MISSION
To the graduating class, the black gown you wear symbolizes dignity, while the Cap with tassel stands for authority.
This is not a fashion – it is an armor.
You are going to war — a war against illiteracy, against hopelessness, war against mediocrity.
As you walk out of the walls of the ACIDA Teacher Training College, I charge you today with 3 things:
Firstly: Teach with Excellence.
✓ Do not be the teacher who comes to class late.
✓ Do not be the teacher who cannot explain. Master your subject. Master your class.
Your students will be watching!
Secondly: Teach with Character.
Children don’t just learn what you teach. They become what you are. Be the example – let your life preach before you you teach.
Lastly: Teach with Sacrifice.
Some of you will be assigned to school where there is no light, no water, no pay on time. Go anyway.
A “Quality Teacher” does not wait for perfect conditions, he creates them.
You are going out today not just as qualified teachers, You are nation-builders.
When you teach one child to read, you change a family.
When you change a family, you change a community.
When you change a community, you change a nation.
Please be good ambassadors of ACIDA wherever you go and in whatever capacity you will be called to serve.
May God bless the Class of 2026.
May God bless ACIDA.
May God bless Nimba County School System
May God bless the Republic of Liberia
Congratulations!!!!!!!!
