As a result of COVID-19, children will have lost eight months of school. In response to this tragic situation, grandmothers and teachers will join hands in a summer learning program to support children in rural southern Senegal. GMP aims to expand its innovative Summer Learning Program to fill the gap caused by COVID-19. 32 teachers and grandmothers will organize a fun program of traditional games and stories combined with a robust review of French and math before school restarts in the fall.
All schools have been closed since mid-March. Children in this poor, rural area of Senegal have no access to distance learning or textbooks and therefore, no learning opportunities until the fall term starts. The quality of education in this area is poor, with high drop-out rates and poor national exam scores, especially for girls. Teacher-family relationships are often poor, family support for education limited and they regret that schools do not teach cherished cultural values and traditions.
GMP will expand its annual innovative summer learning program. 32 Teachers and 320 grandmothers working together will organize fun learning activities with 1,280 primary school kids. Grandmothers and community elders will teach positive values through traditional teaching methods (stories, games, songs). Teachers will present reading and writing lessons related to elders' knowledge and provide a robust review of French and mathematics so that children will be prepared for the new school year.
GMP's expanded Summer Learning Program will help make up for 3 months of lost learning time. Innovative and fun learning activities with grandmothers and other community elders will strengthen kids' motivation to learn, cultural identity and relationships with elders. The program will help children catch up and be better prepared for school in the fall. The program increases teachers' appreciation of local cultural values, their relationships with grandmothers and families support for education
This project has provided additional documentation in a DOCX file (projdoc.docx).
