Children Better Way .

Site last updated on: June 27, 2007

What We Do

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CBW provides a range of services to child victims of natural and man-made disasters through several programs. Services meet the educational, recreational, and sanitation and housing needs of refugee children and youth.

Education
Project overview
The education programme incorporates a pre-primary, lower primary and upper primary school, targetting refugee children who are unable to afford the more expensive schools in Buduburam camp. The school opened for the 2004/5 academic year and teaches from kindergarten age until 8th grade. The upper primary school curriculum consists of English, Maths, Science, French, Religious and Moral Education and Environmental Studies (which incorporates health and sanitation education and geography). There is a Scholarship Fund which offers reduced fees for students, based on academic achievement, attendance and behaviour. School is also used as a means of addressing issues such as health, hygiene and nutrition through schemes such as the school nurse, the hand-washing programme and food and water programme.

Local volunteers involved in programme
School Principal: Thomas
School Vice-Principal: Younis
23 Teaching staff
4 Non-teaching staff

Programme timetable
Kindergarten and Lower Primary: 7.30 - 12.00, Monday to Friday
Upper Primary: 13:00 - 17:00 Monday to Friday.

School is closed during August and for one week at Christmas and Easter, although there are still activities for international volunteers in the education programme during this period.

Long term aims of the education programme
The education programme aims to provide refugees on camp with a high quality education, especially those who are unable to afford the other schools. It also aims to support as many teachers as possible to become fully qualified and to expand its services to the community by offering schooling for adults and vocational training.

International volunteers in education programme
International volunteers assist local staff in school. They will be attached to a permanent member of the teaching staff. Specifically, there is scope for them to:

1. Support the teacher in the classroom: assist with lessons, behaviour management, assessment.
2. Tutor individual students (either those requiring extra support or particularly able students).
3. Assist teacher with administrative work, such as marking and writing report cards.
4. Run after-school clubs: science clubs and a choir have been very successful, as was Earth Day, a collaboration with the water and sanitation team in which children were used to clean up camp and raise awareness of community health.
5. Being on duty during recess.
6. Assist with 'Press Club', a club teaching the children journalism skills and preparing for a monthly page in 'The Vision', the camp newspaper.
7. Support the school administration with monitoring teachers.
8. Help to create resources, plan lessons and develop new methods to improve teaching and learning.

For qualified teachers there is also scope to:

1. Have greater independence in planning and delivering lessons.
2. Design classroom management strategies.
3. Prepare and run workshops to provide further training and development for teaching staff.

There are no specific qualifications required to work with the education programme. However, international volunteers with a background in education or a teaching qualification are in high demand.

If international volunteers want to bring materials for the school, the following are particularly welcomed: Pens, pencils, sharpeners, chalk, geometry sets (especially set squares) and notebooks. It is not advisable to bring textbooks as the school follows the Ghanaian curriculum.

It is important to read the handover notes of previous volunteers on the education programme to ensure continuity between volunteers.

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