Teaching Week 1 part 1
Hi there
So i’m going to guess that you are wondering how my first few days of teaching went?
Okay. First i feel like i should give a little background on the education system in Tanzania. Which will then lead me into the structure of the classrooms here at GHTA
So, in Tanzania there is primary school that goes from grade one to grade 7. (Similar to Canada). English is taught as a language arts class. So my understanding is that its more or less optional. However. Once you get to secondary school, all of the classes are taught in english. Annnd if you are lucky enough to be accepted into university, all of those classes are also taught in english. Also, so i guess the president in Tanzania recently decided to forego the costs of public education which sounds amazing. But the parents are still required to pay for textbooks, school supplies, and uniforms. This means that there was an influx of students. But the amount teachers hired did not increase, nor were there support systems put in place. There were no additional schools built. So the classroom sizes increased, i think they (my source) said, to about 45 students per classroom; crammed into the already established schools. This is apparently also forcing the parents who are of high s.e.s to put their children in private school, while the families of lower s.e.s are dealing with overpopulated classrooms and not enough support for each child.
Okay.
So that was somewhat of a briefing of the politics regarding school. The next step is explain how Give a heart to africa works.
There are about thirty women, ages range from 25-54, who attend classes from Monday- Thursday. The women are divided into three groups depending on their level of understanding and fluency in english. The women attending school receive an hour and a half of english classes and an hour and a half of math/business classes 3 days per week. And spend 3 hours one day per week learning vocations or skills training. Fridays the women can sign up to welcome volunteers into their homes.
I’m just getting up now to start my second official day of teaching, so i will continue telling you about my week later. Wish me luck.
Thanks for stopping by
Xx Chantelle
