Schools in Tanzania are broke into primary (standard 1 through 7) and secondary (Form 1 through Form 4). There is also Form 5 and Form 6 which you have to pass an exam in order to get in and IF you can afford it and IF you pass then you might be able to go to University. The NBA holds better odds.
School is a privilege and you have to pay to go. Schools cost around $800.00 a year = $800,000 shillings. This is impossible for some families, especially with multiple children. The average person (if they can find work) make about $6,000.00 shillings a day or six dollars. Many children do not go to school. Or they do not pass primary and do not continue. The children that get to go to school work ery hard and look forward to any extra help they can get. I have upwards to 15 kids in my room when the generator comes on to do homework, get help, read, draw, anything. There is such a need both educationally and psychologically with the children here it is almost overwhelming.
There are schools everywhere, public and private (so it seems) and the chidren that attend them walk miles or ride a bus long distances everyday to get to school. Many children are borders (especially the orphans that are lucky enough to get into a bording school) In one of the schools that I teach in the children sleep two or three to a single bed. Some have nets some do not. I brought 20 with my and it made a dent. From my understanding the children are in school 10 months out of the year with two breaks in between semesters.
most of the children in school are away from their families for long periods of time. The orphanes (a whole subject in and of itself) livein orphanages which are more prevelant than schools. Some visit extended familiy a few times a year.
The one school I teach at is both a primary and a secondary school. The school has no electricity and they get their water from in inadequate well (to shallow for clean water) and they use rain water to drink. They do not drink a lot of water here, especially compared to Americans. Dehydration has got to be a problem.
They run a generator at night for a few hours and there are a couple of rooms that have a bulb so the students cram into them to do their homework. This is quite a sight. It would make a teacher fill with awe. It did me.
Classes start at 8:00 a.m. and run until 3:30 with a couple of breaks and lunch (ugali and beans) Most of the younger kids fallout before 3:30 gets here. The kids stay in the same classroom and the teachers rotate.
My classroom is in the middle of the compound (fenced in) and gets very little ambiant light. My class starts at 8:00 am everyday and it is usually overcast, making seeing the chalkboard from the back of the room very difficult. The class i teach is form II math (algebra and geometry) my students ranged in age from 15 to 22. I had 36 of them in one room.
The room is dark and damp, there is a large(old) chalkboard in the front of the class. I have 2 sticks of chalk and a form II book (an excercise book with a few examples and practice problems, fewer answers in the back) There is no teacher's edition. I have three of the thirty-six that also have a book. That is it. No other materials.
The children copy everything down into their exercise books (blank bound paper) The write their own text book. This process takes a looooong time and we only have 40 minute classes. This was frustrating for me because we had very little time to dialogue about math. The books they use in math are all skill books, little application.
In spite of the challenging environment and the schools some times closing for days, weeks months because of lack of teachers or foods, the childdren learn and many of them crave more.
When young Jessie was here we shared a dorm room and that is where the students would come for extra help. I observed this one young man about 12 years ole have an indepth conversationwith Jessie (19 from Kansas) about irregular verbs. This young man was trying so hard to wrap his head around them. Other kids were copying English-Kswahili dictionerys to learn new words. To watch this scene was very powerful, to participate in it was life changing. The conversations that take place and the thirst for knowledge these young people have would make any jaded teacher cry.
School is a privilege and you have to pay to go. Schools cost around $800.00 a year = $800,000 shillings. This is impossible for some families, especially with multiple children. The average person (if they can find work) make about $6,000.00 shillings a day or six dollars. Many children do not go to school. Or they do not pass primary and do not continue. The children that get to go to school work ery hard and look forward to any extra help they can get. I have upwards to 15 kids in my room when the generator comes on to do homework, get help, read, draw, anything. There is such a need both educationally and psychologically with the children here it is almost overwhelming.
There are schools everywhere, public and private (so it seems) and the chidren that attend them walk miles or ride a bus long distances everyday to get to school. Many children are borders (especially the orphans that are lucky enough to get into a bording school) In one of the schools that I teach in the children sleep two or three to a single bed. Some have nets some do not. I brought 20 with my and it made a dent. From my understanding the children are in school 10 months out of the year with two breaks in between semesters.
most of the children in school are away from their families for long periods of time. The orphanes (a whole subject in and of itself) livein orphanages which are more prevelant than schools. Some visit extended familiy a few times a year.
The one school I teach at is both a primary and a secondary school. The school has no electricity and they get their water from in inadequate well (to shallow for clean water) and they use rain water to drink. They do not drink a lot of water here, especially compared to Americans. Dehydration has got to be a problem.
They run a generator at night for a few hours and there are a couple of rooms that have a bulb so the students cram into them to do their homework. This is quite a sight. It would make a teacher fill with awe. It did me.
Classes start at 8:00 a.m. and run until 3:30 with a couple of breaks and lunch (ugali and beans) Most of the younger kids fallout before 3:30 gets here. The kids stay in the same classroom and the teachers rotate.
My classroom is in the middle of the compound (fenced in) and gets very little ambiant light. My class starts at 8:00 am everyday and it is usually overcast, making seeing the chalkboard from the back of the room very difficult. The class i teach is form II math (algebra and geometry) my students ranged in age from 15 to 22. I had 36 of them in one room.
The room is dark and damp, there is a large(old) chalkboard in the front of the class. I have 2 sticks of chalk and a form II book (an excercise book with a few examples and practice problems, fewer answers in the back) There is no teacher's edition. I have three of the thirty-six that also have a book. That is it. No other materials.
The children copy everything down into their exercise books (blank bound paper) The write their own text book. This process takes a looooong time and we only have 40 minute classes. This was frustrating for me because we had very little time to dialogue about math. The books they use in math are all skill books, little application.
In spite of the challenging environment and the schools some times closing for days, weeks months because of lack of teachers or foods, the childdren learn and many of them crave more.
When young Jessie was here we shared a dorm room and that is where the students would come for extra help. I observed this one young man about 12 years ole have an indepth conversationwith Jessie (19 from Kansas) about irregular verbs. This young man was trying so hard to wrap his head around them. Other kids were copying English-Kswahili dictionerys to learn new words. To watch this scene was very powerful, to participate in it was life changing. The conversations that take place and the thirst for knowledge these young people have would make any jaded teacher cry.
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