Education

Kasei Educational Improvement

From the onset of our work in Kasei, villagers identified education as the key area for our beginning investment of resources.  In partnership with them, we supplied books for the library which they constructed in preparation for our arrival in 2006.  We began our work by organizing the library shelves, teaching the students basic library use skills, and helping teachers add student reading time to their classroom schedules.  We began training with the teachers, suggesting ways in which they might use the materials and supplies which we brought with us to offer more engaging and active lessons to motivate their students. 

In 2008, three educational support teams, Sharon Sheppard and Laura Alonso in May, Lois Andrews and Sherri Bergstrom in November, and Steve Ocheltree from September to December, visited the village to work in the primary and junior secondary school. They partnered with the teachers to consider how the school might be improved and committed to areas of improvement. In addition, they continued the work of teacher education, used drama to motivate the learning of students, developed a reading skills enhancement program, and worked with the scholarship applicants/winners and their families.

Basic Scholarship Program

In 2008-2009, BASIC provided nineteen full scholarships to attend Ejuraman Senior Secondary School. The scholarships included tuition, fees, supplies, and boarding. In 2009, twenty-five students were enrolled in their first year, and in 2010, eighteen more students began their high school career at Ejuraman.  The impact on the village and school were inspiring.  Enrollment and attendance is up in the Junior Secondary School.   There is now hope that good work will lead to more learning opportunities.  Village leaders and parents are placing a new emphasis on education.  The students at Ejuraman are assuming leadership positions in the student body, and representing the village well.

The Ejura Senior Secondary School headmaster visited Kasei and spoke to scholarship applicants and their families. He has committed to a program of continuous contact with the Kasei schools. We believe that he and his staff’s involvement in the school will create sustained interest in further improving education and the resulting success of students. Since Ejuraman Senior High School is the destination for Kasei Junior Secondary School students, we began a program to expand its resources in 2008. We allocated the following supplies from a recent container for Ejura:

Young Women’s Initiative

Laura, Sharon, and Katy, and this year, Peggy, have expanded the young women’s program that Laura started in 2006. Employing knitting and needlework as a vehicle to bring these women together, they held afternoon sessions to talk about gender-specific issues. Their aim is to increase the number of young women attending junior and senior secondary school, prepare young mothers to help educate their families, and to increase village awareness of the benefits of developing their young women.  Each new mission team now prepares to expand the "craft" program that provides a format for young ladies to gather after school and speak English while working on a new skill.