Equity and Excellence in Africa

My early childhood contacts D/E Gaye and D/E Madegwa are from different countries in African. However, they have the same concerns as we do here in the United States. As I stated on a previous blog one contact is from Kenya and the other from Liberia. What is most interesting in speaking with both of them concerning inequity include, English as a second or third language, low income, and parent education.

In Kenya the location of the school is in an area of 6 different tribes the area language is Swahele. When the children go to pre-school there may be 6 differnt laguages children speak outside of the languages taught Swahele and English. Children may also have tribal differences that may cause some inequity in some schools. The Kenyan principle conveys that teachers are trained specifically for these types of issues in the class room.  D/E Madegwa's schools strive for excellence. He informed me that the fame of the schools go out because of the test scores of the children entering the primary grades. Parents without education spend all their extra money to send children to their schools even though there are public schools available. Parents who send their children to his schools want a better oppurtunity in life for them.

In Liberia, D/E Gaye's schools concerns parallel those in Kenya. His teachers will encounter up to 3 languages in the classroom. His schools are also private and advertise themselves by the test scores of the children entering into the primary grades.

Both principles are concerned about teaching the children that come from homes of abuse, and poverty. One empahtically stated that children can't learn when their stomachs speak louder than the teacher's voice.