I see so many government schools around here. They have soccer fields, cement buildings, the vast majority of students have in tact uniforms and book bags...why are they so much more successful? I know the government gives some money, and maybe the students that attend are from more well-off families that can afford tuition. I had to know the reason, so I asked the Headmistress (principal) of Taata, Madame Sulaina. She explained to me today that the differences are: Government school teachers get paid year-round whereas they only get paid for the hours they work in private schools. There isn't any tuition for government schools and at private schools families have to make a "contribution" each term, unless the children meet the categories of orphan or vulnerable child. Like aforementioned, the grounds are much nicer and developed in government schools as well. So, why would anyone choose a private school, then?? Sulaina said it's because the quality of teaching is much better in private schools. From what I've noted in my classroom observations, this baffles me. I really can't imagine how the education must be at the government schools.
This led to another worry--if Taata is supposed to stand out for quality education, among everything else this school needs, it desperately needs an intervention in teaching methods. It appears that although I haven't completed my teaching degree yet, I have still studied the trade much more than any of these teachers, including Madame Sulaina. Their program is only two years long, and I'm seeing demonstrations of how teaching was decades ago in the States; Students "learn" by rote memorization, the teachers discipline by caning with sticks or twisting children's ears, and there isn't any one-on-one time provided. In one lesson I saw, the teacher must have hit each student at least twice, one time making them all hold out their palms and she came around whacking each and every one. One girl was falsely accused of being distracting and got her ear yanked, which she caressed through silent tears for a while after. In a lesson Katy saw, the teacher made the students count from one to twenty over and over again for over an hour. Many of them tried to count past 20, but the teacher stopped them and redirected them back to one, the only increase being a demand for louder recitation. Visual cues weren't even used accurately, so the kids didn't see which number on the board matched with the one they were screaming.
There is one teacher, Mr. Godfrey, who instructs grades three and four. He is exemplary. He nails methods that I was trained in as the most effective, and he is solely made up of love and care for these children. He even hangs out at the school on Saturdays, giving his students extra learning time and a safe environment for one more day each week. I think all of the other teachers should redo their training wherever Godfrey went. Or choose another profession since it's crystal clear that they wish they were anywhere but at school and with children.
So, what do I do about this? Watching children miss out on learning and therefore betterment of livelihood makes my heart sink. But it looks like teachers are highly respected, and I don't want to cross any lines. Then again, if this school doesn't provide quality education then why should we raise thousands of dollars for it? Why should we set up partnerships to establish recurring financial support? Why should it succeed? Katy and I spent all of last night stressing over this dilemma. By the end of the overwhelmed, frustrated discussion, it became clear to us that our main project here might not be fundraising. It might be renovating Taata's teaching methods. We thought about implementing after school one-on-one literacy tutoring since it's clear most of the students are sliding by while remaining illiterate. We could even do this during the lessons, since the kids spend more time goofing off and punching each other than involved in a lesson. We also considered rounding up all the teachers for a day long seminar where we give them a crash course on better teaching strategies that have substantially higher success rates. Everything that we want to do for this problem sounds like cake for someone who studied the field intensely for four years. But seeing as my memory is that of a 90 year old with Alzheimer's, preparing for and implementing all of this is going to be a scary challenge. I withdrew from school for many reasons, and getting back into what I recently ran away from is going to require a lot of courage and "goosefraba" breathing.
We ended our discussion with the decision to research and buy books that will help Abraham and his staff learn how to carry out this skyscraper of tasks ahead of them in a 21st century manner. THEY need the skills required, since we are only here for a quick blink. We are also going to work toward our ideas to help the educational system within the school. It is my Goliath, and I WILL fix my slingshot. It is our new priority. However, we are still tied into this massive fundraiser, switching to a new bank and account, online donation method setup--and the 15 subtasks within--and at least beginning partnership programs. "Africa time" is just not acceptable for these next few months.
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