BRAC Schools In Sudan For 175 Poor Children

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BRAC Schools In Sudan For 175 Poor Children

Summary

This project builds 5 schools in Southern Sudan, providing 175 of the poorest children (mostly girls) with an accelerated quality primary education.

What is the issue, problem, or challenge?
After the genocide in Darfur, there is fragile peace between the North and South in Sudan and much unresolved conflict. Children in this country urgently need our help. BRAC’s schools address the challenges in Southern Sudan by targeting poor children, street children, nomads, child soldiers, and a majority of girls. BRAC offers an accelerated learning program for children who have never enrolled into primary school or who have dropped out by teaching 5 years of primary school in just 4 years.

How will this project solve this problem?

1) 5 schools built within 1km of students’ houses 2) Female local teachers recruited & trained 3) 70% of students will be girls 4) Teaching methods include culture, music, dance and games 5) Meetings with parents held to ensure their support

Potential Long Term Impact
Building capacity among these 175 students will enable them to improve their well-being, grow their incomes, and provide for their families. This project is essential in stabilizing Southern Sudan and preventing the spread of Darfur-like genocide.

Project Message
“The only way we can save Sudan is to educate its children. Give a girl or boy the opportunity to learn and earn a future.”
- Susan Davis, President & CEO, BRAC USA

Funding Information
Total Funding Received to Date: $5,448
Remaining Goal to be Funded: $60,302
Total Funding Goal: $65,751

Additional Documentation

 

Education for 175 vulnerable children in Southern Sudan
BRAC USA
Globalgiving.com

Project Title:  Education for 175 vulnerable children in Southern Sudan.

Project Summary: This project builds 5 schools in Southern Sudan, providing 175 of the poorest children (mostly girls) with an accelerated quality primary education.

Project Need and Beneficiaries:

Sudan has been entrenched in civil wars for 37 or the past 47 years. The devastating effects can be seen in the destruction of infrastructure, the breakdown in education, social services and local administration, and in famine. The conflict has affected Southern Sudan much more than the rest of the country. Social and economic services, especially access to education by children in Southern Sudan have deteriorated rapidly. As the genocide in Darfur continues, the need for social and economic sustainability in Southern Sudan becomes more and more critical.

Considering the devastating situation, the main challenge is to build capacity and develop the infrastructure in the education sector. In Southern Sudan, children attending schools are sharply decreasing in the upper grades of the primary cycle. In 2001, 41% of children were enrolled in grade one (88,404) while only 1% were enrolled in grade eight. Due to the overwhelming conflicts in the country, thousands of children have been previously recruited as soldiers or have been associated with armed groups, meaning that they are at higher risk of dropping out of schools and need assistance in reintegrating with society. In addition, because of cultural beliefs, girls’ education is given even less priority. Parents are reluctant to send adolescent girls to distant schools if there are only male teachers and for security reasons where there is conflict. Daughters are also kept at home to perform household chores. As a result, girl’s enrollment in schools is half of that of boys and only 1% complete primary school.

BRAC’s education approach addresses all of the educational challenges facing Southern Sudan; it targets children in remote locations and those whole lifestyles are not easily accommodated to the routines of formal schools. This includes poor children, street children, nomads, and child soldiers.  BRAC offers an accelerated learning program for children who have never enrolled into primary school or who have dropped out by teaching 5 years of primary school in just 4 years.

The main features of the BRAC low cost Non-Formal Primary Education school mode are: flexible school timing, location close to the student’s house (within walking distance – no further than 1km), small class sizes managed by female local teachers (the student to teacher ratio is kept at a maximum of 34:1), little or no homework,  a child-friendly learning environment, relevant curriculum with basic education and life skills, teaching methods that make learning fun including culture, music, dance and games, close involvement of parents and communities in school management, and the maintenance of at least 70% girls in the classroom.

Project activities:

This project will fund the creation of 5 BRAC primary education schools. Main activities of the program include:

Opening school: Before opening a new school a door to door survey is conducted to identify the target age group of students and eligible teachers in a village. To avoid duplications with any government schools in the area, the list of identified students is cross checked with the head masters of these schools. Once the area is selected, BRAC’s staff organizes one to two meetings with community leaders, teachers of other institutions, local government representatives, and parents of potential students. The schoolroom is then constructed at minimal cost.

Teacher recruitment and training: The criteria for selecting a teacher include passing the Secondary School Certificate exam or a minimum of nine years of schooling. BRAC prefers if the teacher lives in the same vicinity and she must be female to ensure that parents are comfortable with sending their girls to school.

Once recruited, the teacher is enrolled in a training program that involves twelve days of basic training on different topics, such as basic concepts of education, child psychology, and learning techniques and methods. Orientation courses are also held the beginning or at the end of the school year to enable teachers’ assessment about students’ progress and to prepare them for the coming teaching year.

Monthly refreshers are also held through the school cycle where teachers from various schools come together to share best practices.

Donation options:

$15 will provide one student with textbooks.
$25 will provide one student with school supplies.
$60 will provide one teacher with a year’s worth of monthly training.
$100 will provide one student’s schooling for a year.
$3,000 will build a school.

Potential Long-term impact:

This project will educate 175 children who will otherwise be left out of the educational system in Southern Sudan. By building capacity among these students, they will be enabled to improve their well-being, grow their incomes, and provide for their own families. This project is essential in ensuring stability of Southern Sudan, and aims to prevent the spread of genocide like Darfur in the rest of this country, which is the largest, and one of the poorest and most unstable in Africa.


Project Funding requested: $65,751