Our Young Learners Flourish

We are deeply committed to the education of our Malaika children and to ensuring that by the time they enter primary school, usually at the age of six, they have mastered reading and writing in English and can do basic arithmetic.

 

Mama Haruma runs our Baby Class. Two and three-year-olds have a great time playing, singing, drawing and exploring, with a couple of rests in between. This class takes place each morning, while the other mamas cook, clean and wash clothes. At present, there are seven toddlers in this class, including two fee-paying children from outside the village.

Mama Haruma says, “The main objective is to help these kids socialise through playing, games, storytelling and organising puzzles, to mention a few activities. It is good to see kids in my class are active, charming and cooperative. Every Friday, I take them for a walk outside the village and show them different things that they learn in class. One day, they were very surprised to see termites in their heap.”

 

Once children are four years old, they move on to our pre-primary class, run by Madam Tumaini with support from Emanuel, our Child Support Manager. At the moment, this class gets additional help from one of our older girls who, having attained 6 O levels, is waiting for her college to open where she will train as a Social Worker. There are eight in this class and most of the time, Tumaini ensures that English is spoken. This is vital as the primary school they will attend is English speaking—with a little Chinese thrown in!

Arithmetic seems to be more challenging for the children, even though they are adept at using fingers and toes for counting! With a shortage of maths teachers in the country, despite our best efforts in early education, maths proficiency tends to decline as children progress through primary and secondary school.

“Generally, the kids are progressing well. Many can now identify letters and some have even started reading and writing. Although there are a few slow learners who need a lot of attention and follow-up. Emanuel and I  have developed a special programme to assist them. And we are confident that, with time, they will catch up,” said Madam Tumaini.