By Kyle Upchurch | Executive Director
Hello Supporters,
In February, Sarah, a volunteer in Kenya, talked to Hopeful Africa's partner schools and reported back on the current state of the projects you've helped fund. Here's the short version: Because of your support, students in Kenya are receiving a better education. This project, funding additional teachers, has been particularly successful. All four schools that your funds have helped provide extra teachers report that the teachers are working hard and easing the work load. Across all seven of our partner schools, the student to teacher ratio averages 30:1. According to the World Bank, in 2010, the student-to-teacher ratio for primary school was 42.6:1. For secondary school, it was 25.2:1 (costs for secondary school drive down enrollment). There are several things to consider. The maximum ratio found at one of our partner schools is 43.2. So the status varies a lot from school to school. And, enrollment continues to increase at many of the schools. All that said, the current levels of 30:1 are unsustainable, especially given the limited amount of resources with which the teachers have to work. Much, much more needs to be done. If you want to continue supporting these partner schools, please consider another donation to this project. We suggest March 18th, as GlobalGiving will match each donation 30% on that day. For more information, sign up for our e-mailing list at http://eepurl.com/4GUIr.
All that being said, your support has helped us provide eight teachers to alleviate the classroom population at four of our partner schools. The impact of that is sometimes difficult to quantify, but is real. One of our partner schools, Ogilgei Primary School, recently moved from position three to position two in district rankings for Class 8 scores. That means that test scores are increasing across the board. Kirobon Primary School reports good test scores and secondary school placements for their students. Marishoni Nursery School, a new, community and parent run early education school, has increased their enrollment from the 30s to 120. One of their three teachers was provided by the funds you've given; without that teacher, the increased enrollment, which is already straining resources but is at least working, would not have been possible. That's a lot of kids getting an education because of your efforts. Ogilgei Secondary School, at a ratio of 27:1, report that the Hopeful Africa-funded teachers are highly motivated and hard working.
Motivation is another thing I wanted to discuss. A lot of the head teachers have said that the support given by Hopeful Africa, and driven by you, has motivated the staff and students to go above and beyond. With several schools reporting test score increases, that's not a difficult thing to believe. And it's very, very important.
So, thank you. We at Hopeful Africa will continue to report on this project as we get more information. A big time for data and story gathering will be in late May, when the volunteer team goes to Kenya. Until then, please follow us on our blog at hopefulafrica.org/blog. Additionally, we have Hope Night 2015, our fifth annual gala on Friday, April 24th, in West Des Moines, Iowa. This is the best opportunity to meet the organization and fellow supporters. Learn more here: hopefulafrica.org/hope-night. And again, thanks!
Kyle
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