Dear All,
Recently, I heard that a senior educational researcher had been
conducting some research in Liberia. I wrote to this researcher to ask:
I wonder if you could help me with a simple question.
According to the US CIA World Factbook in 2006, the metric system
(known formally as the International System of Units SI) is the
official system of measurement for all nations except for Myanmar,
Liberia, and the United States, so my question is this:
As the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
applies its Accelerated Learning Program - Plus (ALPP) in the Liberian
context, are they teaching the international metric system as part
of the numeracy program, or are they teaching about the old pre-metric
measures such as feet, inches, and ounces that are still in use in
the USA?
Today, I received this reply:
An interesting inquiry. The answer is that ALPP follows the official
curriculum of the Ministry of Education of Liberia, which teaches the
metric system.
However Liberia still uses the US gallon for measurement of gasoline
for motorists, although road distances are in kilometres.
Interestingly this is the reverse of the situation in UK, which uses
litres for measuring gasoline/petrol but uses miles for road distances.
It would appear that an agency of the USA is actively teaching the
metric system in Liberia using the USA developed Accelerated Learning
Program — Plus (ALPP).
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has
helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the
modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they
now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for
their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many
different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial
and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA.
Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST,
and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com
for more metrication information, contact Pat at [email protected]
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