Basic education for children is essential for a sustainable approach towards development aid. Being well educated in diverse disciplines is important so as to guarantee a society to succeed in their growth and development of their country.
It is crucial to offer a curriculum, which provides a well chosen diversity, not only consisting of common disciplines, such as English, Mathematics and Biology. Vocational skills have become more and more important to the youth in order to take advantage of their skill set in corporate life. This is why we believe in interactive and workshop based education, which motivates children to participate and gives them common knowledge in vital domains, such as business studies or debating.
Aim
Giving needy children additional education out of school hours. Offering a space to learn and thrive with educators, who workshop with children in small groups to reveal their greatest potential. To encourage students’ interest in education and extra curricular activities.
Objectives
- To manage a continuing program that helps children in need of additional tutoring to succeed in their school life and obtain better grades.
- To provide a space to learn and work with educators, who conduct interactive lessons, workshops and group discussions with the children.
- To encourage students’ interest in education and extra curricular activities.
- To offer a conducive environment with the necessary materials for children to continue their education after school hours.
- To tender a diversity in classes, which will be taught in group lessons.
- To help pupils individually with their issues in order to make them succeed in academic life.
Identified Need
The current unemployment rate in Kenya is 60%. Korogocho is one of the largest slum neighborhoods of Nairobi, Kenya. Home to 150,000 to 200,000 people pressed into 1.5 square kilometers, northeast of the city centre. In 2009 it was estimated to be the fourth largest slum in Nairobi, The name Korogocho is a Swahili term meaning ‘crowded shoulder to shoulder.’
Korogocho is famous for being Nairobi’s biggest dumping site for rubbish. There are programs aimed at upgrading the living conditions of residents in Korogocho, however the issues of family violence, children who are not in school, subject to child labor and therefore not properly educated are frequently left unaddressed.
In Kororogocho the drop out rates from school are between around 27% to 50%. Child labour is 30% and 20% of the children are homeless. Statistics are from Mary knoll Institute of African Studies (Baseline Survey 2008). Children are frequently subject to child labor, as their families need financial support to survive and education is not sufficiently appreciated. Consequently, children become part of a vicious circle, as their parents, who were not educated, do not value the education of their children, who are, as a result, very likely to pass on the same lifestyle to their children, who will be forced to work again, instead of getting a sustainable chance to improve their lives by receiving quality education.
Children grow up in families witnessing domestic violence, alcohol and drug addiction and can be subject to abuse as a normal part of their lives. While parents struggle to deal with their own issues they have little time to support their children and many are not literate so they do not value their children getting educated. This background makes it indispensable to have educators, who help children doing their homework and studying for the next test. A lot of parents have never finished primary education or are illiterate and therefore not capable of supporting their children adequately regarding their education. Additionally, many households are not connected to electricity. Consequently, children are forced to do their homework in the light of candles, which frequently function with poisonous gases.
Pilot Project
Free Tutoring has been running since April 2015 in our Korogocho branch office with huge success. We tutored 10 different children and after the program children came to school more regularly, were better prepared for classes, had their homework done, better grades and the participants engaged more proactively in school.
This pilot program has been running for 31 weeks using 2 hours long workshops five times a week combining education and practical learning skills. The participants have been asking for more training since, so we know they value the program and its positive impact on their academic progress. The children tutored were especially appreciating the variety in offered subjects and our sustainable approach towards their educational goals. The photos in this project post are all from the Free Tutoring program running in Korogocho since April 2015.
Subjects Offered
Opportunity
There is an opportunity to significantly impact on the lives of students in the slums of Nairobi. Many pupils wish to improve their academic scores in a conducive learning environment, but have been stuck trying to survive and have not had the opportunity to partake in such a programme. By giving children the chance to practice and learn in time off from school, while being coached by outgoing educators, helps them improve their skills and solve difficulties in academic and private life. We can open the space for students, who intend to augment their chances to succeed in class by providing them with tutors aiding in various educational disciplines.
The opportunity of the Free Tutoring program is for children to have an adequate learning environment within which they are capable of studying and practicing together with peers and educators, where they are supported to go to class and succeed at school which significantly increases their opportunities. There is an opportunity to create relations with teachers in schools and help them create new ways to deal with issues that affect students and occur during class. Consequently, new methods to communicate subjects’ content will be developed. We are committed to providing students with the tools to identify their strengths and weaknesses and applying them in a supportive environment for children to go to school and have a bright future. Interest and the desire to explore knowledge is significant to learn and advance with education sustainably.
As a matter of fact, a lot of parents of potential participants have either never finished primary education or are illiterate and therefore not fit to help their children with homework or learning for a test. Furthermore, education is frequently not adequately valued by them, which is unsupportive, when it comes to the children’s will to learn and participate proactively in school. Additional challenges, such as the lack of electricity and light during late afternoon and evening hours, make the usual learning environment quite student unfriendly. With the Free Tutoring programme we have the opportunity to provide children with both; qualified educators to support them with academic tasks and a space to learn and thrive with peers to most importantly embrace education.
Methodology (the how)
The project will be carried out within a period of one year and shall be continued in the next school year. In order to achieve the project objectives, the following methods will be applied
- Field visits and one to one interviews with potential students of Ngomongo, in Korogocho during the initial phase of designing the program.
- Engaging 40 students through our partner schools to participate in the program, receiving quality tutoring to enhance their full potentials and succeed in academic life.
- Facilitating community dialogue regarding the importance of education and ongoing support networks for students.
- Offering the children a conducive space to learn with educators, who individually workshop with the students, offering a timely and sustainable approach towards their educational challenges.
- Through the support group (mentors) we shall have regular visit and dialogue with the teachers of the pupils to assess their progress in school.
- Through the support group (mentors) we shall have regular visit and dialogue with participants at their home to access the situation and monitor the developments and impact of the project.
Scope of the project
Location: Korogocho slum, Nairobi, Kenya
Numbers participating: 40 students in different stages of primary and secondary education. The participants will be drawn from different schools within Ngomongo area of Korogocho slum.
Project Partners: MAKE A CHANGE will manage the project and engage students to participate. We are providing learning space for tutoring workshops, staff to conduct the lessons and equipment for recording some of the events’ information to be used in reporting; this includes camera for photos and video recorder.
The project will liaise with our partner schools, who have offered to partially provide space and facilities, in case of a rapid increase in participants, so the needs of the learning community can still be met.
Outcomes of Free Tutoring
- The project on its completion will have produced the following results;
- Children coming to school more regularly
- Higher retention of students at school and higher performance by children at school
- Improved security within the community, such as a decrease in criminal behaviour
- Students are prepared for school, homework is properly done
- Pupils will perform better in class, thus have better grades
- Increased participants’ interest in extracurricular activities
- An established learning environment for children to explore their full potentials
- Strong partnership between MAKE A CHANGE and the local community resulted from working together and envisioned to expanding the project.
Project Monitoring and Evaluation
MAKE A CHANGE will carry out monthly monitoring to evaluate emerging issues and progress of the project and a short monthly draft report shall be prepared. In the mid year of the project, we shall hold a session with all project participants to evaluate the developments being made in the project. The out come of the session will inform the development of a six months comprehensive report on the project. At the end of the project year, we will carry out a comprehensive evaluation process to ascertain the impact of the project to beneficiaries, areas to improve and some of the outstanding successes.
The final report on the project shall be prepared and made available to all beneficiaries and all sponsors/donors of the project. The report will be accompanied by photos and video clips as well as verbal and narrated stories from the beneficiaries on how the project has impacted in their lives. Significant change shall be measured and concrete evidence on improving school participation, better grades and growing interest in extracurricular activities shall be ascertained as some of the positive outcome from the project.