It has been nice to go into schools knowing some faces – the
first term I was here I felt like I knew no-one, but now that I am returning to
the same schools on my visits, I am slowly getting to know people. It is comforting when this happens and makes
you feel like a more permanent and useful article. In some of the staffrooms I have been in this
week, several teachers have given me a hug, like they would an old friend. I saw quite a few of the teachers in the
holidays – this is when most training sessions are held, and so we ran a few
sessions and each school sent representatives.
It amazes me that teachers turn up to these events – not because I think
the training is not worthwhile – but because there is no financial reward for
such attendance. At most sessions we
manage to negotiate funding from either the District or VSO to provide a fanta
and mandazi for each participant – hardly a huge reward, but it seems to
work! Teachers want to learn new ideas
and improve their methodology. I have
already mentioned in a previous post how teachers work very long days in
primary school that includes a double shift of students. Starting wages are 26 000 RWF (about £26) per
month, although the good news is, that MINEDUC are hoping to considerably
increase this in the next few months and teachers can also augment their pay if
they have certain qualifications. Many
teachers attend university in the evenings and at weekends. I am exhausted after a week in school – I
can’t imagine passing up my weekend in order to study hard.
As I have been meeting the teachers and Head teachers at
this start of the new academic year, I have received several requests for
training. Some of these I have managed
to weave into my school day so that we will run short training sessions on
matters ranging from; what makes a good lesson, and how to observe a lesson to;
how to make and use visual aids.
However, such is the structure of the day and the pressure on teaching
time that some head teachers have asked me if I can run training on
Saturdays. “But will people come?” I
asked in surprise (knowing full well what my own response would be in the UK if
someone so much as dared to suggest I attend training on my precious weekend)
“Yes, of course” was my answer...We shall see what necessity brings.
There are no cover teachers in Rwanda; no system of supply
teachers on-call waiting to hear where they might be sent that day. My timetable in each school is shaping up to
enable me to team plan and team teach with three teachers and then to run a
short English Club or training session at the end of the (my) day in
school. In the time that we plan, a
class are without a teacher. In many
schools the Director of Studies, or another teacher who has fewer lessons will
cover this class. In some schools it
requires that the students be left to study alone. They don’t run riot; they might come and
stare at the muzungu out of curiosity, but on the whole you will find them
working in huddles and getting on with something. There is no health and safety requirement
that an adult be in the room just in case anything goes wrong. I am impressed that these children care so
much about their education and understand the fact that they need to get on
with it.
The team teaching is done with teachers who attended my
training in the holidays and who I am hoping will continue my work when I am
finished. This means that we have also
offered the opportunity for other teachers to come and observe the lessons we
teach in order to gain ideas and share good practice. Again – this would mean some classes may be
left unsupervised. But what can you
do? There is no spare money to pay for a
spare teacher and teachers are working at capacity as it is. But we want teachers to share in what we are
doing, so we invite them to watch.
Back to health and safety.
I think of the maze of forms and rules and regulations that exist in the
UK...here building takes place in the middle of the school in order to erect
new (and desperately needed) classrooms.
No barriers enclose the work and bits of material lie around. Children are just sensible enough to avoid
it. In one school a broken pane of glass
was lying on a desk in the classroom. It
was a substantial size – about 30cm wide and 20cm high with a very jagged edge. A student was given the piece of glass and
asked to dispose of it. At home I would
never dream of asking a student to do such a thing – I probably wouldn’t even
move it myself – imagine the palaver if a cut were to occur?! I have also noticed that many children bring
their hoe to school. I’m not sure yet if
this is because they have come straight from cultivating a field, or if they are
doing some cultivation in one of their lessons that day (many schools grow
crops). Imagine the uproar if a child
walked into a school in the UK with a huge hoe!
I spent some time looking at some new resources in a
school. There were some fabulous posters
– full of colour and learning points.
Some of them had photographs of objects on and a group of teachers stood
around discussing these. I realised how
many of these posters and other teaching materials are made in far more
developed countries. Children here may
never have seen grapes (G for grapes) or a doll, or a yo-yo and as for a
quiver...I think even students in the UK would struggle with that one (what
happened to Q is for queen?). I am now
determined to get hold of a yo-yo to show the teachers this wonderful toy –
packages to the usual address please!
Looking at the poster also opened up an interesting
conversation about the confusing pronunciation of some words in English. We discussed why schools now often teach
children the phonetic alphabet – much easier to pronounce jug or jump that way. We had a bit of fun practising this on the
words on the poster and looking at long and short vowel sounds. It makes you think about your language in a
way you may never have done before (I certainly hadn’t considered these
things).
And as in countries everywhere, the new school year is a
chaotic and busy time. In the UK we
allocate the first couple of days of most terms as TADs (Teacher Availability
Days – so no students, just staff). This
gives time for teachers to get settled and prepare for the onslaught of a new
term and all that it brings. Here, the
students arrived on the same day as the staff – teachers would have to arrive
in the holidays if they wanted extra time.
I can see why they may not – they work extremely long hours all term. Many live some distance from school and could
have had a long walk. They probably have
family and farms to look after before and after work. They must be shattered. Also – it is taking the students a while to
get back into the swing of things and full numbers have not turned up.
I have witnessed some interesting discussions; one where a
parent wanted a Head teacher to give permission for her daughter to switch
school. She lived closer to another
primary and to get to this one she had to pass the house of a relative, which meant
she often made it no further and spent the day there instead of at school. Another parent was there requesting that his
son was kept back a year and not promoted to the year above as he felt he was
struggling too much. This request will
not happen, and I suppose with resources as tight as they are, it is unlikely
the services of support teachers etc will be offered as they would in the UK.
So far, I have not had to sit through any lengthy meetings
on data – something that always came hand in hand with the start of a school
year at home. I have not been given a
bundle of data to analyse and comment upon.
This may well happen at some point as exam results are often handed over
to Education Leadership Advisors, but that role is vacant here, so I may get to
see it. The only data I have seen so far
was on a school blackboard and it showed exam results by year group and then a
list of school drop outs with columns headed with titles such as “moved”, “other”,
and the rather sad “demises”. I
discussed the difference between numbers of male and female drop-outs with the
Head teacher. In this particular school
the numbers were very, very small and there was not a noticeable difference
between boys and girls, which is encouraging.
And, finally, it has been lovely to get back on the moto for
some of the beautiful rides to schools.
And to see the smiling faces and feel the happy vibes that the children
give off. I certainly never received a
reception quite like it in the UK. I
have spent the week surrounded by crowds of children and have shaken more hands
than I can count. I have practised my
(still poor) Kinyarwanda. In some
schools there are a few older students with a lot of confidence, who will ask
me questions in English like “Where are you coming from?” or “What is your
name?” When I say my name, they all
repeat it back to me. Maybe eventually I
will arrive in a school to be greeted by cheers of “Aliceeeee!” rather than “Muzungu!” It’s nice to be back and I am looking forward
to working with the staff and students this term and starting to feel useful,
rather than merely an observer.
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