Thursday 5th November
My host in Kimberly (Amanda Van Zyl) dropped me off at Molehabangwe (a township school) at half past eight this morning. Her son is coached at cricket by the headmaster of this school. There is a 90% unemployment rate in the area that serves this school. Here they learn Setswana which is their mother tongue. The school was very well resourced but teachers find it hard to see parents when they need to and many children must travel 20km to reach the school. Class sizes are very large with around 40 in each class so there are obvious demands on teacher time. Many children miss school due to family circumstances and the truancy officer scheme which the government had running fell by the wayside.
I spoke to one teacher, Jennifer, who had been on a study exchange to Lesotho and she informed me that they were piloting an inclusive education scheme there that was working very well. Lesotho had a 0% literacy rate, which is quite a statistic.
After this my host Pete picked me up and dropped me off at Dutoitspan Laerskool which is another government funded school in the area that caters for Grade R- Grade 7. Of 800 children, 600 of them are on free school meals and 25% of parents earn less than 5000 R per year (equivalent to 450 GBP) The school is 70% coloureds, 20% blacks and 10% whites. Just under half of the children are from township schools. I observed very keen learners and excellent behaviour despite large classes and limited resources. I watched an active maths lesson in a grade 1 class that was excellent. The quality of teaching here was second to none!!
My host in Kimberly (Amanda Van Zyl) dropped me off at Molehabangwe (a township school) at half past eight this morning. Her son is coached at cricket by the headmaster of this school. There is a 90% unemployment rate in the area that serves this school. Here they learn Setswana which is their mother tongue. The school was very well resourced but teachers find it hard to see parents when they need to and many children must travel 20km to reach the school. Class sizes are very large with around 40 in each class so there are obvious demands on teacher time. Many children miss school due to family circumstances and the truancy officer scheme which the government had running fell by the wayside.
I spoke to one teacher, Jennifer, who had been on a study exchange to Lesotho and she informed me that they were piloting an inclusive education scheme there that was working very well. Lesotho had a 0% literacy rate, which is quite a statistic.
After this my host Pete picked me up and dropped me off at Dutoitspan Laerskool which is another government funded school in the area that caters for Grade R- Grade 7. Of 800 children, 600 of them are on free school meals and 25% of parents earn less than 5000 R per year (equivalent to 450 GBP) The school is 70% coloureds, 20% blacks and 10% whites. Just under half of the children are from township schools. I observed very keen learners and excellent behaviour despite large classes and limited resources. I watched an active maths lesson in a grade 1 class that was excellent. The quality of teaching here was second to none!!
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