6th years reflect on their memories

The following 6th years have made significant contributions on their time in primary schools located in the developing world.....

Nathalie Lukumu is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa. In Class she shared her story of how there are four National languages in her native homeplace. The language that Nathalie spoke in her home and with her friends was Lingala. French was the official language in Primary schools in the Congo. In school she was not permitted to speak Lingala only French. If You spoke Lingala you were punished with a stick.

This story reminds us of what life was like for Irish children in the 1930's and 1940's when Irish was the prefered language in primary school.

Marta Szulc gave her story on primary education in rural Poland not too far from the german border.

Florina Varga from Romania tells how irrelevant she felt some of the curriculum was in her time there and how she finds the Irish primary school curriculum more engaging for children.
Florina having experienced respect and professionalism from Irish teachers now realises that many teachers in Romania use corporal punishment toaday when teaching. This Florina says 'instils fear in the student'and you learn only because you are scared'. Teachers tend to behave aggressively in the Romanian system of education. Professionals generally tend to discriminate against the poor and especially the Gypsies, even in the schools. There are separate classes for Gypsies. Students in these classes are treated differently to the more middle class child. For Florina she had a positive enough experience in school but she really wants to contribute to changing social policy in her country.

This exercise of reflecting on her early school days, has ignited a real interest in the way children are treated in Romania, 'When I grow up I want to work in Romania and help change society there'.


Inesa Vaskaviciute from Lithuania liked her days in primary school there, She played chess dodgeball and hopscotch. She enjoyed school days.S he studied English, Art,and Lituanian.

Karolina Zdeb from Poland speaks about her classes in diving and swimming twice a day in her primary school. She is an advocate for more P.E. Overall her experience in Polish Primary school was positive though she does rememember being bullied... 'a fact of life' she says.

Helina Solomon from Ethiopia had a very positive experience of primary school in Addis Ababa. She explains there was emphasis on science, not the arts subjects in their curriculum. She wore a uniform. School day was from 9am to 4pm. She studied the sciences including Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Maths, Bible studies, Amharic and English. Helina recognises that she had a priviledged education in Addis Ababa.

All students of class Mandela enjoyed hearing the stories of primary education from their 'new Irish' classmates.

Thanks girls for your input.