"Almost 5 million students a year fail to complete compulsory education on time. About 1 million children drop out of school each year because of poverty, particularly ethnic minorities and girls – and those girls who remain in education are often the victims of systemic gender discrimination, particularly in rural areas. The poverty of an area as well as the poverty of individual families is an obstacle, with many schools in China lacking the resources to provide more than two to three years of schooling. They are poorly equipped, often providing little more than desks and chairs, and their curricula are severely limited. Notebooks and writing materials, not to mention quality stimulating textbooks are often prized possessions for the lucky few with access to them."
Cathy and her friends taught in XingMeng School, a combined primary, middle and senior school with over 4,000 students. Her job was to teach English as a foreign language.
Cathy says, "The students were all very dedicated to their education, raising at 6am for morning exercises before breakfast and class beginning, with supervised study after the days schooling only ending at 9pm. It was apparent in every one of my students that they prized their education, and considered themselves lucky to be getting it."
Cathy's teaching methods were fun compared to traditional Chinese methods.
" Bringing 'fun' into the classroom made us popular with the students, but it was remarkable how it never made education frivolous for them. It was too important to ever be that.
All over the world, every day, people experience loss. They lose their jobs, their homes, their partners, their minds – no one can ever lose an education. Chose to waste, yes, but never lose. I believe every child on earth, no matter what their nationality or economic status, should have primary education as a building block they will never lose – not least for the ability to go places in their heads."
No comments:
Post a Comment