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Since 1999, the ACS International School in the UK has been sending students to Namibia, Africa, to help support local schools and education facilites.  Recently, the headmaster and a teacher of the Kutenhoas Primary School in southern Namibia spoke about the everyday life in their school, and how it differs from the education expereince in the UK:

“In the morning the school children don’t have any breakfast – some do, but most come to school on an empty stomach. There is a government programme called the National Schools Feeding Programme, and it provides the kids with one meal and day, but it’s just porridge that has been cooked at the school. For most of the students this is the only meal of the day – they eat it and have to last until the next day without food.

They walk to school, even though some live very far away. And in the afternoon they have to walk back home. The school day starts at 7am, then they knock of at 1pm. We sometimes have extracurricular activities, like sports, and on some days they learn traditional life skills, where they are taught by the parent community how to do needlework, and working with beads and wires.

Source: Flickr Creative Commons - ^@^ina

But most of the time they are free in the afternoons. This is because they have to look after their family’s livestock, or do household chores like fetch firewood or water. We don’t have taps in the houses – instead there are certain collection points for the whole community to use.

Coming to school is a pleasure for the children and we don’t have much absenteeism. Maybe it’s because of their lifestyle at home – always having to do household chores – it’s nicer to be in another type of atmosphere. Also, the prospect of one meal a day attracts them.

With so many students learning on empty stomachs we have to be sensitive to certain things. We have to know a lot about the background of each child, and know why each one behaves the way they do. This is our biggest challenge.

We have a high rate of illiteracy because most of the students drop school after grade seven, at the age of 14 or 15. Then they have to look for work to feed themselves. It doesn’t help that their parents and siblings often can’t read either. It means we have to put in more as a teacher.

The school is like a big family. We don’t encounter behavioural problems like you do here in the UK. Usually if someone creates a problem there is another student who can help to calm them down. Problematic children are usually only those who are not getting enough attention…

In our classroom, maybe we’ll joke with the kids for five minutes and then it’s finished. No more talking! I’m steering the boat and you will listen, and afterwards you will tell me what I taught you.

We teach all subjects – we are jack of all trades and master of none. The main subjects are maths and English, natural science and Namibian languages like Nama.

The two of us speak good English because we were fortunate to come from good families. I learned English from the age of nine. My parents spoke it and put pressure on me to speak it.

One thing I’m going to take back to Namibia is English punctuality. If people are on time then everything runs smoothly. It’s what I’ve experienced here – people say they will start at 7 o’clock and they start at 7 o’clock. With us, our lack of punctuality is sometimes caused by the parents. They have to look after their goats. We might have an after-school programme on and we’ll have to wait for a parent to arrive. If we say 8pm there is always someone who will come at 10pm.

But something that is absent in our school is the involvement of the parents. In England, the parent community assists with so much. Also, the planning here is very good. And I like the way people smile at us when they see us”.

By Jeremias Goeieiman and Ronald Engelbrecht from The Guardian

Tags: ACS International School, Education, Namibia, UK