Tanzania 2012

I will be returning on the Warwick in Africa scheme to teach again this Summer.

However, this time it will be in Morogoro, Tanzania.

Feel free to follow my progress on my Tanzania 2012 Blog.

A Summary

Firstly, apologies for the lack of posts for the last week or so, but I did not have too much time whilst in Jo'burg before I left due to meetings and fundraising events and have been resting since I returned to the UK.

In this post I though I would summarise the last few days in South Africa, as well as giving an overview of my experiences in and around Alex.

Firstly, just as an update to where the sponsorship I collected earlier in the year went.  Some of it went into the project itself, this year we had expanded to two or three new locations and we intend to expand further and even to new countries next year!  The remainder got spent on buying geometry sets for the mathematics department at KwaBhekilanga to ensure that the first time the learners see a compass or use a protractor is not during their Matric, but in geometry and related lessons as soon as they arrive at the school!  We also bought a collection of revision guides and past papers that will help the teachers better prepare the students for their examinations, offering them a better chance to get the grades they need to improve their situation.  Alongside this, we bought as many educational posters (mainly multiplication tables) to be placed in the Grade 8 classrooms, hopefully combating the reliance on calculators that we found thwarted a significant portion of the lessons we were trying to deliver.

Obviously I cannot yet comment on the effectiveness of these aides, but since they were also identified by the Head of Department who requested we spent our funds in these areas, hopefully there will be a noticeable difference when Warwick in Africa returns next year!

On one of our last evenings in Johannesburg, we visited the headquarters of ABSA Capital (the trading name of the investment division of Barclay's Bank in South Africa) where we had to present to a small group of banking officials, who currently sponsor the project, and the BBC a report on what we felt was good and what could be improved about the scheme.  The point they seemed most interested in was the fact that many schools in Alex close early due to a lack of water, yet a simple and relatively cheap solution such as the installation of water tanks could help combat this.  In fact, they seemed so interested that they commented on how they would try and investigate to see how they could contribute to fixing such a problem.

In KwaBhekilanga, my last few days passed without major incident.  We did have a little party in the Maths Office to say goodbye and most of my pupils told me they would miss me.  Unfortunately, although some of them were brighter than their peers, I ended up not recommending any for IGGY (The International Gateway for Gifted Youth) as although they were smart, this was only in comparison to the remainder of the class so I was not confident that they would benefit from the scheme.

Overall, I felt the project went well and I would definitely consider participating next year, although I might request that I teach older pupils as I believe that the behaviour challenge will not be as problematic!

For the last time this year,

Better be off now - got to go fill in project evaluation forms and submit finance reports...

A Walk on the Wild Side

Today we went on a walk through Alex with some Grade 10 pupils from KwaBhekilanga.  It was fairly interesting as we got to see a lot more than we do from the mini-bus in the mornings.  I almost ended up getting mugged by a guy who grabbed hold of me and shouted "are you a teach?", but the students we were with pulled him off and I continued unharmed.

I handed out more of the government-style tests today and its shocking how badly written they are - I saw one where the layout had failed and another where a question had multiple correct answers.

I pity the kids if this is how their tests are written...

Better be off now - got books to mark...

Go-Karting, Bruises, Governmental Testing and a Lack of Water (Again)

Last night, we went go-karting with the Soweto Warwick in Africa group.  Although I was the worst person on the track by far, I managed to cut my PB lap time from 23.92 seconds to 19.48 seconds in the course of an hour or so on the track, which I think is a fair improvement.
The biggest problem is that I've now got a fairly impressive collection of bruising from where I kept spinning into the course of another kart and getting smashed into.  Nothing broken as far as I'm aware, so it was worth it!

This morning, I had to set a test approved by the government that was to assess key mathematical skills for Grade 8 learners.  After I had collected the tests back in, I asked whether they wanted me to mark them, and was told "It's not our test, so don't waste your time!", which was fairly harsh towards the testing people, but reflective of the attitude that the teachers have that they should not work more then they do within school hours.  It is this reason that results in lessons and worksheets being poorly planned and is one of the biggest things that could be improved at the higher levels.

This afternoon, as is getting more common, we ran out of water.  These patterns of water shortages have revealed though that different schools (even adjacent schools) are on different water supplies as KwaBhekilanga and Realogile both ran out of water on the same days even though they are quite far apart, yet East Bank, which is pretty much right next door to KwaBhekilanga has not.

The early finish did allow me to get some photos from the upper floors of the school and Alex, but I'll probably post them later.  I did get one of the "Chair Graveyard" though!

The Chair Graveyard

Better be off now - got to go get some more school supplies from the mall later.

More Marking

Yesterday, we went out to a local club at MonteCasino that was recommended by the people at alumni event we went to on Friday.  It was a fairly interesting experience, especially seeing that we went with the group from Soweto, but the music was not all that great, which was a bit disappointing.

Today I've been marking another batch of the Ratios and Rates homework that all my Grade 8 classes have now done and am much happier about my performance now.  Out of the 32 learners that handed the homework in, 25 passed, only 2 got a zero, 18 got over 60%, including 1 who got full marks!

So adding this class to the summary:

8A - 6.3% zero - 78.1% pass - 56.3% over 60%

8H - 8.3% zero - 62.5% pass - 12.5% over 60%
8B - 20% zero - 12% pass - 12% over 60%
8G - 12.5% zero - 40.6% pass - 12.5% over 60%

I think I can now say that I've improved the grades the longer I taught the pupils

Better be off now - got a test to make on function machines!

A Class of Two Halves

Firstly, I would like to apologise for the lack of an update yesterday, but Johnny was leaving and we went to Moyo's for dinner and cocktails to say goodbye!

Today was a day of two halves.  Simultaneously.  Each of my classes was easily split into two distinct halves, the half who wanted to learn and paid attention to everything I said, and the half who did not and ended up throwing water bombs and running out of the classroom.  As I've said before, my crowd control is appalling, which is my biggest weakness when it comes to teaching, so I kind of just shrugged it off and just continued teaching the rest of the class who wanted to learn.

Tonight we have a talk with some South African Warwick alumni to try and fundraise for Warwick in Africa.

Better be off now - we are getting picked up soon and I need to go get ready!

No Water, No School

We finished at lunchtime today as Kwabhekilanga ran out of water.  To be fair, it is a valid excuse as it meant that no toilets would flush, and there was nowhere to get water, yet it seems such a petty (and fairly regular) thing to disrupt a day of education over.  I'm not sure why or how they ran out of water, but the problem seemed to affect 3 out of the 5 schools in Alex that Warwick in Africa is teaching at.  This suggests that it is a problem with the mains supply, but according to people whose supply was interrupted the other day, it seems to only last the one day, so it is clearly not something major.

In the lessons I did have today, the pupils impressed me somewhat, although I did have to almost shout at one of my classes who were chatting whilst I was doing examples of the sorts of questions that would be appearing on the homework I was setting them at the end of that lesson.  I basically ended up telling them that they could either pay attention and get decent marks on their homework, or continue chatting, ignore my examples and utterly fail the homework (which contributes to their overall grade for the year, and could influence whether or not they have to repeat the year) which seemed to work as they quickly shut up!

Better be off now - got to go plan lessons by the pool...