Over 2 years, we aim to conduct inset training with teachers from the Informal Schools that exist in the informal "slum settlements. Having been teaching 6th Form students on Zoom over the past 3 years we realised that their teachers were attending our lessons too. We are now conducting Insets in Maths, Physics, Chemistry and English on Saturdays purely for the benefit of the teachers. We will be continuing the cycle term by term and will continue to do so each term over the next 2 years.
The impact of poverty on education in East Africa remains one of the biggest challenges. For many young people they cannot attend school due to work or family commitments or have no place to study at home; for many the SoH is their only option. Our volunteer supervisors are enthusiastic young people, most of whom were once students that attended SoH; are waiting to take up places at University or to find permanent jobs. They are not trained teachers or youth workers but have the capacity to be.
We've 43 SoH (after school study clubs) in Kenyan and Tanzanian slum settlements with over 2500 students attending. By training VS do their job more effectively we will ensure aspirational students are successful, mentored and able to succeed in life. The learning and social needs of our students in a modernising East Africa are changing and by equipping the volunteer supervisors to understand issues that face today's young people we can keep them in education and maximise their potential.
Education has the potential to lift a child out of poverty, by helping children to attend and participate in a SoH, they are in a much better position to take advantage of opportunities and find employment in the future. We want to ensure the volunteer supervisors that work in SoH are fully equipped to provide the highest level of mentoring & counselling, to understand mental health issues, children's rights, health and hygiene, gender issues and to be effective leaders & inspirational teachers.
