UNICEF Sierra Leone: Abu's story

Abu’s story ENHANCING CHILDREN’S PARTICIPATION

Schools for Africa

Sierra Leone

ENHANCING CHILDREN’S PARTICIPATION

Thanks to you, children like Abu are going to school and learning important lessons for their future.

Magburaka

Sierra Leone

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By the end of Sierra Leone’s decade long civil war (1991-2002), the country’s education system was devastated. Schools were destroyed, teachers were displaced (many never to return) and the majority of children were out of school. More than a decade on, the education system continues to progress along the road to recovery. With 49 per cent of Sierra Leone’s population under the age of 18—the majority of them living in poverty—the Government is well aware that the future of the country rests on providing its children with a quality education so that they grow up to be healthy, productive adults. But in a context where teacher to student ratios hover around 1:66 and 40 per cent of the teaching force is untrained and unqualified, quality is the first casualty.

In recent years UNICEF’s Child-Friendly School (CFS) initiative has been promoted in an increasing number of countries as a means to ensure that children’s right to quality education is realised. By taking the needs of the whole child into account, Child Friendly Schools adhere to a comprehensive definition of quality education that includes not only teaching and learning, but also children’s health, safety, protection and inclusion.

Key to achieving these objectives is community participation. A child friendly school is not the fiefdom of a single headmaster. It is run by the community, including local officials, parents, teachers and other stakeholders who contribute to its success, especially through the School Management Committee and Mothers’ Club.

In a child friendly school participation also extends to the classroom. In the past, traditional ‘talk and chalk’ teaching methods, where the teacher did all of the talking and the children were passive learners, led to poor educational outcomes. Research confirms what we all know: children learn most effectively

through activity and practice and not through passive listening. With the introduction of Child Centred Teaching Techniques (CCTT) in 2009, UNICEF turned the traditional method on its head, focusing the teaching and learning experience where it belongs: on the students. Training teachers to use active, participatory methods that make learning fun, like question and answer sessions, group work, students teaching students, and learning through storytelling, song and dance will not sound new to a Western audience.

However, in Sierra Leone they are revolutionary, serving to enhance studentteacher relationships, student performance, enrollment and retention.

The Student Government concept takes child participation a step further, giving children a voice in the decision-making process within the school community. Piloted in 50 schools in 2009, Student Governments are now active in 515 schools nationwide. Through them, children are learning to not only exercise their rights but also to shoulder their responsibilities within the school setting. Student Governments have, for example, been very effective at eliminating corporal punishment from schools. They are also responsible for keeping the compound clean, promoting good sanitation and hygiene practices and reporting any violation of children’s rights to the school’s Mothers’ Club . When they run into issues they can’t solve on their own, the School Management Committee, Mothers’ Club, teachers and school administration are always there to help.

In the following pages you will meet Abu Bangura. Abu is 12 years old and he is in class five at Ahmadiya Muslim Primary School in Magburaka. We join Abu on a day that begins like any other, but holds much greater significance for him and the students at his school. Abu is one of two candidates running for President of his school’s Student Government, and today is election day.

Schools for Africa Abu’s story 3

My name is Abu Bangura. I am 12 years old and I am in class five at Ahmadiya Muslim Primary School in the town of Magburaka in Tonkolili District, Sierra Leone. Today is a big day for me. I am running for president of my school’s Student Government, and today is election day.

Schools for Africa Abu’s story 5

06:01 Every

morning, as soon as it gets light, I sweep the compound. Then I make a fire and wash the dishes. If there is any food left over from last night’s dinner, I put it into a pot and put it on the fire for breakfast.

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06:21 Schools for Africa Abu’s story 7

06:25 Then

I go to the well...

06:28 8 UNICEF Sierra Leone

06:33 ...to fetch water for my shower.

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06:42 10 UNICEF Sierra Leone

06:50 When I finish eating breakfast with my cousin, Mohamed, we wash our hands and then I brush my teeth and have a shower.

After Abu’s parents died he and his sister came to live with me. It is not easy to provide for all of us on my own. When there’s nothing to eat we all just bear the hunger together. I tell them ‘There’s nothing, so we all just have to be patient.’ I see that Abu has the potential for a bright future—I really want him to go to university—so even though we have nothing, I keep trying.

—Abu’s Aunt Schools for Africa Abu’s story 11

ABU BANGURA Twelve-year-old Abu is in class five at Ahmadiya Muslim Primary School, Magburaka

My sister and I live with my auntie. It is difficult because sometimes, when she has no money, she can’t buy the books I need for school.

School is important. When I have an education I will be able to get a good job and we will have everything we need.

The Student Government is an important part of my school. It helps us to learn about our responsibilities and how to solve our problems. It is good that children are part of everything that happens in the school so they have a chance to say something.

If I am elected President, I will help the other students with their learning. Some don’t have exercise books. Some, like those who have lost their mothers, don’t have pens. Some don’t study so they don’t do well in school. I want to help my colleagues to move forward. I want to help them with their studies. And if I have some money, I will buy them exercise books and pens.

Learning changes your life. One day I will be more than the president of my school—I want to be the President of Sierra Leone.

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07:08 Schools for Africa Abu’s story 13

07:18 I 14 UNICEF Sierra Leone

say goodbye to my Auntie, and leave for school.

Welcome members of the high table and my fellow pupils.

My name is Abu Bangura . I am in class five . I want to be the president of the children’s governme nt in Ahmadiya Prim ary School, Magburaka.

One, to serve the interests of my sc hool mates; two to se e that quality educ ation takes place; and three, to ensure the disabled and gi rl child are supporte d in our school. Finally, I will become one of th e future leaders of Sierra Leone. Thank you. Ple ase Vote for me.

07:38 It’s

a long walk to school. It give s me a chance to prac tice my manifesto.

08:03

08:28 After

assembly we sing the national song and then we play the marching song.

Everybody marches around and around the schoolyard and then we go into our classrooms.

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08:53 We

have classes for a while before the election starts. My favorite thing is going to the blackboard. Some of the others don’t know how to write on the blackboard and they don’t understand what we’re learning. I like standing in front of my colleagues and helping them learn.

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I like the teaching at my school. I went to another school for a while. In that school they used corporal punishment.

They don’t do that here.

At that school they also made us sit in rows. Here we sit in groups and we learn from each other.

And at that school the teacher would just write on the board and we would copy. At Ahmadiya the teachers write on the board and then they explain and gives a lot of examples. We also get to go to the blackboard and teach, so when we get home studying is easy. —Abu

09:15 It’s

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election time!

09:18 Mrs.

Kamara (left) is in charge of the elections.

She gives the election officials signs to wear while I help my teacher make the ballots.

With your UNICEF support...

Emerging issues Until recently schools in Sierra Leone were overloaded with a variety of stand-alone education initiatives designed to address the needs of post-conflict Sierra Leone. UNICEFsupported Emerging Issues (EMI) programme, developed in 2007, streamlined these initiatives into a single learner-centred approach that incorporates four thematic areas: human rights, civics and democracy, gender, health and environment. This programme is currently included in teacher training programmes at all levels and much of its content will be included in the revision of the basic education curriculum framework which is currently underway and will be completed in 2015. It is UNICEF’s goal that, by the end of 2014, at least 1,000 teachers in 1,000 primary schools will be applying emerging issues in the classroom, benefitting more than 40,000 students.

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ALICE V. KAMARA Senior Teacher, Ahmadiya Muslim Primary School

In the past teachers found it difficult to teach. We talked and wrote on the board and had the pupils copy what was there. We did everything in the classroom and the children were passive.

I am so glad that I was selected to attend UNICEF’s training on Child Centred Teaching Techniques (CCTT). I was always considered a good teacher, but through this training I learned new and better ways to teach that bring the children on board in the learning process, and make them the focus, not the teacher.

When I came back from the training one of the first things we did at school was change the organization of the classrooms. Now, instead of sitting in rows, with boys on one side of the class and girls on the other, the children sit in mixed sex groups. Sometimes we give them work to do as a group. Or we do question and answer sessions where the teacher acts as the facilitator. Sometimes we have the students come to the front of the class to teach; other times, for example, in general science, we move the children outside—especially when we have a topic pertaining to plants or the environment. When we return to the classroom they are put into groups and they tell everyone what they saw. It is good because now, the teacher and the students share responsibility in the classroom—we are companions in learning.

CCTT has a direct link with what we are doing here today. CCTT is all about child participation, and so is the Student Government. By taking part in the running of the school, children come to know and practice their responsibilities.

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With your UNICEF support...

Child Centred Teaching Techniques It is estimated that 40 per cent of Sierra Leone’s teachers are untrained. This, more than any other factor, impacts the quality of education children receive.

Introduced starting in 2009, UNICEF’s CCTT encourages learner participation in the classroom. The payoff is in better learning, easier classroom management, enhanced student-teacher relationships and better learning outcomes. In 2013 and 2014 alone 4,283 (2,793M, 1,490F) elected teachers from 2000 schools will have participated in CCTT training.

As there are not sufficient funds to train all teachers, those who are elected to attend ‘cascade’ the training to the other teachers in their school and/or to other teachers in their districts. It is estimated that in the process aspects of the CCTT methodology may reach as many as 5,000 additional teachers, thereby having an impact on the learning of tens of thousands of students.

09:24 Schools for Africa Abu’s story 23

09:31 The

headmaster, Mr. Campbell, talks to all of the candidates about the rules of the election.

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ctations Election rules: Eligibility and expe ates must be registered 1. Election officials and candid students in classes five and six

ents in class three and above 2. Voters must be registered stud have attended school 3. Candidates and voters must the school year consistently from the start of anothers’ views 4. Candidates must respect one the winner and the winner is 5. The loser is to congratulate or her cabinet, because we to include those who lost in his good of the school. are all working together for the ocation or abusive language.

6. There is to be no fighting, prov e acts you will be expelled.

If you are caught in any of thes

The children’s parliament is a way of organising children to rule themselves and do things independently for themselves. For example, the Minister of Sanitation and Health will come to school early in the morning to make sure the compound is clean; at the assembly the Minister of Information will share news from inside the school and from the community. The twelve ministers work together as a team. —Samuel Campbell, Headmaster

09:44 We assemble for the elections. Mrs. Kamara introduces the election officials and gets everybody excited about voting.

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09:53

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With your UNICEF support...

Pre-service teacher training As the only agency that offers teacher training nationwide, UNICEF is enhancing opportunities in the country’s five Teacher Training colleges. ‘Preservice’ trainings are long-term programmes that result in teachers receiving qualifications at various levels.

UNICEF supports these through training college lecturers, providing college libraries with the prepared modules for the teacher training programmes (CCTT, Emerging Issues (EMI) and the Teaching of Reading programme, which helps teachers to integrate various aspects of language arts—reading, word building, phonics, etc—into single lessons based on a meaningful context) and supplying these colleges with computers and access to internet facilities. In addition, UNICEF provides them with vehicles and motorcycles that enable lecturers to travel to schools to participate in the joint monitoring and supervision of teachers.

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OUMAR A. BAH Deputy Director of Education, Tonkolili District

When I started working in this district in 2007 the challenges we faced were enormous. The school system was in shambles, there were many untrained and unqualified teachers, a lot of girls were dropping out of school because of traditional practices of sending girls to early marriages and high numbers teenage pregnancies. In addition, all of our school supervisors shared just one motorcycle that had been donated by UNICEF to this office five years earlier, and the roads were in really bad shape, so inspectors were seldom able to visit the schools to find out how the children were doing and improve their learning situation. This left teachers unattended and unsupervised and some head teachers had a lot of power and authority that they did not always use well.

At that time the teachers used the traditional ‘talk and chalk’ method of teaching. Nobody was aware of newer methods, and teachers in hard to reach rural areas were reluctant to leave their villages to seek better qualifications at the teacher training college in Makeni. This was especially true for women, but that was because their husbands wouldn’t let them to go.

Teachers are crucial in the provision of quality education. If you have a large number of teachers that are untrained and unqualified, it means a lot of children will drop out of school—and in this Northern area if you don’t have female teachers, many parents will be reluctant to send their

10:07

10:12

girls to school. Previously some our male teachers were responsible for impregnating some of the girls in the schools—so that was another big, big challenge.

UNICEF also came to work in this district in 2007, and their work brought a dramatic turnaround. Working with the Ministry of Education, they introduced a distance education programme that helped teachers to access teacher training education without having to go to the Teacher Training College. This was how we were able to get women teachers to come in.

They brought in motorbikes for the inspectors which enabled us to start doing routine visits and school inspections. Because teachers were aware that we could come to the schools at any time the schools became a safer and happier place for the children.

In 2009 they introduced the idea of ‘Child Centred Teaching Techniques’ (CCTT) and built new structures around the practice of school governance—the Mothers’ Clubs and School Management Committees.

These were very important. In the past there were few democratic principles within the school system: the headmasters were in control of everything. But with the introduction of these bodies at the primary level, there was democracy within the schools and they became childfriendly. Corporal punishment was minimized, Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities were constructed and learning became a democratic—rather than a teacher dominated—affair, so the children

With your UNICEF support...

In-service teacher training UNICEF’s support to in-service teacher training has taken two forms. Untrained and unqualified serving teachers who meet certain criteria are supported in a one year distance education programme in ‘Teachers Certificate Lower Primary’, after which they take the the national teaching examinations. UNICEF supported a total of 2,250 teachers through this programme between 2009 and 2012. It is currently on hold pending government action on a 2012 evaluation.

Current primary teachers with three to five years of teaching service (whether they are trained, qualified teachers or not) may attend in-service trainings in the various UNICEF-developed programmes such as Child Centred Teaching Techniques (CCTT), Emerging Issues (EMI) and Teaching of Reading.

These trainings are usually carried out during the school vacations so as not to interfere with teachers’ duties.

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With your UNICEF support...

Supporting stakeholders at every level of the education system UNICEF’s support to education includes institutional and human capacity development from the grassroots through to the national level. At the grassroots level the organisation trains local stakeholders—School Management Committees, Mothers’ Clubs and Student Governments—to uphold their rights and responsibilities. At the local and regional levels UNICEF works to build the skills of teachers, school managers, trainers, school inspectors and other education authorities. And at the national level the organisation partners with the Ministry of Education to develop and implement national polices, plans, guidelines and standards that support the right of all children to an education. It also works to strengthen the education system itself by, for example, supporting the basic education curriculum reform which will make learning more relevant and promote social cohesion.

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felt freer and the school became, yet again, a better and happier place for them to be.

With the introduction of the Student Government things have gotten even better. The children are now involved in the decision-making process and have come to understand their rights and responsibilities.

They see themselves as the owners of everything they do within the school. For example, the Minister of Education ensures that the school is ready for assembly and that the teachers are present in their classrooms; and the Minister of Sanitation and Health checks to see that the toilets are clean and that there is soap and water for hand washing. At the end of the week they hold a cabinet meeting. They discuss issues. They discuss challenges—like maybe a teacher who is still using the cane— because as part of the Emerging Issues curriculum in the classroom, they are learning about their civic rights, about democracy, environmental issues, gender issues, etc. So when they get together they are thinking about all of these things. And then when they have issues, they bring them to our attention and we take action. So the children themselves are helping us in the running of the school.

Having seen the success all of these child-friendly initiatives, we are now encouraging all of the schools in this district to form their own Student Government, School Management Committee and Mothers’ Club, and we are working to expand CCTT to all of the schools. Our goal is to provide every child in this district with quality education by making every primary school a child friendly school.

10:18

10:40 We

wait for each of the guests sitting at the hight table to give their speech.

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Then Kadiatu and I are finally invited to present our manifestoes to our fellow classmates.

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Before we started using Child Centered Teaching Techniques in the classroom our students were not performing well in the public exams. If, say, there were 50 students in class six, only 20 would pass. But now we have 80, 90 or even 100 per cent pass rates. The improvements are especially noticeable for the girls. They do better than before and they are much bolder. —Samuel Campbell, Headmaster

10:47 The election commissioner declares the polls open.

As the head of the School Management Committee (SMC) I have a close connection with the Student Government. We talk and share ideas. I listen to the problems they face and then I meet with the teachers and head teachers to discuss them and find ways to solve them. For example, last year the student government was concerned about the dilapidated state of the school buildings. I talked with the mission that owns the school and met with the community about it. Together we came up with the money we needed to renovate the classrooms. —Abdul Kargbo, SMC Chairman

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10:54 Schools for Africa Abu’s story 37

11:09 In

the polling station each voter gets a ballot. They put a mark

next to the candidate they want, then drop their ballot in the box.

11:16 38 UNICEF Sierra Leone

Schools for Africa Abu’s story 39

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When they were counting the ballots, I got really sad. Near the end I had 93 votes and Kadiatu had 84, and I could see that there were still a stack of ballots to count. I knew she was going to win. —Abu

11:32 After

the voting is finished the presiding officer counts the ballots.

He holds each one up and reads what is written so that everyone can see.

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11:34 After the last ballot is counted, the election commissioner announces the results: ‘Abu 93, Kadiatu 91.’ I can’t believe it! I won!

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This is a good thing that UNICEF has started. If children participate in the political process like this throughout their years at school, then after they finish school they will stay involved in the democratic process. They will know their political rights. And if it happens that one of them becomes a leader, he will know how to rule the people in the country, and will be able to govern them very well. —Abdul Kargbo, SMC Chairman

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11:37 My

classmates lift me up onto their shoulders. They dance and sing and chant my name as they carry me around the schoolyard.

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11:40 Schools for Africa Abu’s story 45

11:54

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12:16 After

we have our first cabinet meeting to decide who will take which post in the government, we introduce the cabinet to the rest of the students.

When I won I thought about what we learned in peace education [part of Emerging Issues]: we are all one and it is not good for us to have conflict.

That is why I didn’t ignore Kadiatu. I brought her into the cabinet. And when we stood up in front of everyone I held her hand. She was crying.

I told her not to feel bad. She is the Vice President. So if I am in charge today, I will give her time to be in charge tomorrow. We will work together. She is my sister because we both attend the same school.

—Abu Schools for Africa Abu’s story 47

Children’s participation is the cornerstone of quality, child-friendly education.

UNICEF is working with the government, local education authorities and NGOs to ensure that the voices of Sierra Leone’s children are heard and taken into account both in the classroom and in the wider school setting.

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ABOUT UNICEF Thank you for believing that all children have the right to an education.

Together with you, UNICEF is working to make a difference for all children, everywhere, all the time. All children have rights that guarantee them what they need to survive, grow, participate and fulfill their potential. Yet every day these rights are denied. Millions of children die from preventable diseases. Millions more don’t go to school, or don’t have food, shelter and clean water. Children suffer from violence, abuse and discrimination. This is wrong.

UNICEF works globally to transform children’s lives by protecting and promoting their rights. Their fight for child survival and development takes place every day in remote villages and in bustling cities, in peaceful areas and in regions destroyed by war, in places reachable by train or car and in terrain passable only by camel or donkey.

Their achievements are won school by school, child by child, vaccine by vaccine, mosquito net by mosquito net. It is a struggle in which success is measured by what doesn't happen—by what is prevented.

UNICEF will continue this fight—to make a difference for all children, everywhere, all the time.

To fund all of its work UNICEF relies entirely on voluntary donations from individuals, governments, institutions and corporations. We receive no money from the UN budget.

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Photography, writing and design: Kelley Lynch