I realized the other day that I am getting
very homesick. Not for New Zealand as you might expect, by for the
Philippines. I am still
missing the place terribly.
The School
CBW Primary school itself is pretty much
what I expected. It was gifted to CBW (Children Better Way) by
an Italian charity. The six classrooms
are simple but sufficient.
Pulao Elementary School had some
textbooks. CBW Primary School has none.
CBW Primary has six grades. Grades one
to three run in the morning, and grades four to six in the
afternoon. Each grade has about eighty students in it and is
broken down into two streams. Grade One A, Grade One B, Grade
Two A, Grade Two B and so on.
The teachers are a committed bunch. The
basic salary for a teacher is 150,000 cedi ($NZ 25.86) a month.
Some teachers could earn more money by working in the
market for example, but choose to work at the school because - I
assume - they are passionate about education.
All the money flowing into CBW comes from
international volunteers. All volunteers want to see the local
employees get a pay rise. This has not happened.
Why? The answer to that question is interesting and complex, but
will have to wait to another time...
The grounds are
shared by two other schools, which is problematic. It is
hard to be teaching something as dull as long division while something
as exciting as soccer is happening just outside the window.
What I Do
I tutor Grade One students for two hours in the morning, and Grade
Six students from two hours in the afternoon. I tutor English
and Math.
I am not teaching classes, which is a little disappointing really
as I thoroughly loved being in front of a class
in the Philippines.
So why am I not teaching?
The reason I am not teaching are very similar to the reasons I do
not (sometimes) give a thirsty
kid water. Sustainability.
In a perfect world, Liberians will be taking care of
Liberians. Liberian teachers would teach Liberian students,
Liberian doctors would treat Liberian patients and Liberian mechanics
would fix Liberian cars.
This is not a perfect world though. Liberians need a lot of
help from charity organisations and NGOs (Non Governmental Organisations).
When Liberia finally pulls herself out of the hole she is in, she will
be in desperate need of teachers.
If volunteers like myself take over the classes (like I did in the
Philippines) then the Liberian teachers aren't really learning how to
teach and Liberia suffers.
The skill level of the teachers at CBW Primary School varies
greatly. Some teachers are great. They make the lessons
fun and have good control over the kids. Most teachers are not great.
The have practically zero control over the kids and struggle to get
the message across.
Words are often incorrectly spelt on the blackboard. I was
observing one teacher in a classroom and it took him the whole lesson
to explain six times seven and what a product and a factor was*.
Most, if not all, have had no formal training.
The value I and other volunteers can add though comes in the forms
of tutorials. We supplement what the teacher does in the
classroom for the slower students. The kids learn more and the
teacher gets better at teaching.
