International Education Week Part 2

So this week Daisy and I have continued with the theme of 'International Education Week'. We got our kids to finish their letters and their drawings, which are now stacked in two neat piles ready to be sent off to England this afternoon. We asked some of our more switched on learners to also write thank you notes to the school that send Daisy the amazing parcels - inevitably, a couple of them were absolutely adorable to read.

Once we had finished doing the letters and drawings with a class we asked them to think about why education is important. We did this by literally writing 'why is education important?' on the board and making them come up with ten points to answer.





At first they just stared at us blankly, apparently dumbfounded at the question (we realised afterwards that they've probably never been asked, or had to consider such a question). So we tried a different tactic, asking them why they come to school. 'To learn Miss' was the usual answer. 'But why do you learn?' we asked them. Silence once again.

'Miss! Capture a picture of my work!'

But finally, after a few suggestions, a lot of hints and a vigorous prod in the right direction they finally began to come up with some ideas. We let the children come up and write their ideas on the board themselves - something they seemed to find very exciting.






Once the children had come up with their ten ideas we pointed out to them that these were the things they had to remember every time they were fed up with school. When they couldn't be bothered to come to school, or to go to study period, or to revise for an exam, they had to remember that these were all the things that they are working towards, getting a job, buying nice things for themselves and having the means to support their families (which seems to be very important to them).

Daisy showing the kids pictures of England

 Daisy and I then  talked to our learners about the main differences between education in England and education in Namibia. Things that they found the most shocking were as follows:

Photos of our photos are very entertaining!

1.) In England all children in the Year are the same age - in Namibia ages can vary widely as some children may have repeatedly failed Grades
2.) In England all children have to wear exactly the same uniform (if they go to a uniform wearing school)
3.) In England it is normal for a child to get a completely new pencil case every year
4.) In England, if it snows, you can get time off school!!!

We then let the children ask us questions about schools in England. We were asked to describe our school uniforms, sing our School Anthem - which we tried to explain don't really exist in England, and were asked to sing our National Anthem. One of the most difficult questions we were repeatedly asked was 'how many schools are there in England?' to which we could only reply 'lots and lots!'




Inevitably we ended up talking about things which had nothing to do with school or education, and were instead asked questions like 'how many televisions do you have in your house?' and 'have you ever ridden in a donkey car?' But Daisy and I didn't mind. The children were finally asking us questions and at least half the class was actually engaged and interested in what we were saying! Apparently miracles do happen!