Education
Education
With the school project in Mushapo ADH wants to ensure a good education for the students in order to give them and the village a better future. ADH offers the schooling for free, so that also children from poorer families can attend the school. With a proper teaching staff ADH tries to establish a good teacher ratio, so that the children can be treated according to their needs. The curriculum of the officially recognized school is based on national guidelines, but already in the first grade, the language is French.
Aug
2014
In The Future -- Training of Teachers in Mushapo
A very positive message: From the whole region our school in Mushapo was selected by the regional department of the Ministry of Education to enable teachers from all the schools in the area to receive training. That our school was selected for the training of teachers is of course a very great honor for our young school and we are very happy with this award. We assume this great responsibility and will make the necessary arrangements for this teacher training.
Jul
2014
A Well-Deserved Break
The current school year came to an end. The certificate award was celebrated with a big party. The parents of our 313 students that were present were very proud of the achievements of their children. Now there is a well-deserved study break for the kids - but also for Jean, our manager, who uses the holiday season to visit his family in Kinshasa. In the meantime he is represented by Pierre, our school principal, but he will be there again to welcome the children in Mushapo when the new school starts in the beginning of September.
Jun
2014
Final Sprint
Together with another teacher our school director Pierre accompanied pupils of grade 6 to Shamungamba where the final examinations of the primary schools of the region were taken. Thanks to good preparation by our team of teachers our students did the exams amazingly fast. And because they did so well, it awoke initially suspicion by the exam commission. In vain the pockets of the children were searched to find evidence of possible cheating till at last they had to recognize the outstanding achievements of our students. Meanwhile, the current trimester in Mushapo comes to an end and likewise our teachers achieved good progress with grades 1 to 5 and diligently prepare the new certificates for the children.
May
2014
A Busy Time
Thanks to the company Denys, who made for us metal hoops, we could extend the sport facilities in Mushapo, so that the children can first learn how to play basketball and then later can play by themselves. With our dedicated team of teachers the school runs very well. Jos continues to teach English in the morning the 5th and 6th grade and in the afternoon the studious teachers. The students are preparing for the upcoming exams and the teachers are busy preparing lessons and making certificates - altogether a busy time.
May
2014
Building Bridges to our Neighbors
We invited all school principals from the surrounding villages to discuss with us about issues that we may have inadvertently caused by the free education in our school. Since the schools of neighboring villages are dependent on school fees and thus on the number of pupils, we need to ensure in the future that we do not accept children in our school who would otherwise have attended another school. A good cooperation with neighboring schools is necessary in order to enable all children in the region the best possible education. Football unites and creates the first opportunity for dialogue: On Saturday, 31.05. We held a football tournament between the school team of Mushapo and the team of a neighboring village. So that his team could prepare for the tournament, the director of the neighboring school asked us if they could borrow our football.
Mar
2014
New subject matters: Informatics and English
Currently Jos is also working as a teacher. He is teaching English for levels five and six. English is an important added qualification, becoming more and more relevant in the Congo as English skills improve the chances for a good job in the children’s future. Jos is also teaching the teachers how to work with computers. He teaches basic informatics on his and Jean's laptops.
Dec
2013
Employment of New Teachers
Because the number of pupils has –unexpectedly, nearly doubled, we are facing new challenges. The great demand is not surprising: our classrooms are more spacious than in the schools of the neighbouring villages, and our pupils are taught French from the beginning and there is no tuition fee, something rather unusual for the Congo. Because of the increase in student numbers, we urgently need more classrooms and teachers. We will enlarge our school with four new classrooms and employ four more teachers from the surrounding areas. Thus, having altogether 10 classes with approximately 30 pupils each, we can supply quality care.
Nov
2013
More Pupils, Lack of Teachers and a new School Principal
For this school year, we were counting on 180 pupils. But because the local people in the surrounding villages saw our progress, they also wanted to send their children to our school. Even though we tried to limit the number of students, it was impossible. We are now having six classes with 314 pupils from Mushapo and the surrounding villages of Kakondo, Shamubenzi and Kamupafu. The school committee is counselling about this unexpected situation. We will have to expand the school with added competent teachers in order to ensure quality lessons. The committee also decided to dismiss our school principal, his work had been inadequate for some time. Fortunately, we have found a good replacement, already confirmed by the committee.
