Help 80 Secondary Pupils in Niger Read and Write

This last school year proved to be a great struggle for all of our scholarship students at Hampaté School because of constant strikes in Niamey which prevented the students very often from attending classes. This made it extremely difficult for all of them to follow the program, but it was especially hard on our 9th graders, who had a very weak level and who needed to be up to par, as candidates getting ready to sit for the national 9th grade examinations at the end of the year. Succeeding these exams is critical for a student’s future in Niger, as the BEPC certificate could be vital in helping them get a job or also in giving them the right to continue on to high school.

This dire situation called for emergency measures and our Association wanted to meet the challenge by taking immediate action.

However, in spite of our enthusiasm and determination, this was not an easy task. It is incredible how students struggle with learning subjects if they are not proficient with reading.  It hinders them from studying, has a direct influence on their writing ability and they have a hard time comprehending anything. When a student falls behind, it becomes almost impossible for him or her to catch up. We therefore decided to help our 15 x 9th graders catch up by setting up a special after school remedial program for them with French and Math lessons totaling 2 hours a day, every day of the week in small groups so they could each get the individual attention they needed.

Thestudents’ learning levels were assessed at the beginning of the program and then the teachers calibrated their teaching accordingly, even if that meant going all the way back to the level where the students started to struggle. This meant that even though these students were 9th graders, the remedial facilitator went back and did Grade 1and 2 work again!

“The idea was simple: we abandoned the official curriculum for several hours a week to concentrate on the basics.” explained one of the teachers.

The classes coincided with the fasting period in the country and so conditions were really tough both for students and their teachers, but they both stuck it out. Some of these students live more than an hour away and made the trip by foot in 45 °C (113 °F) degree weather.

"It is hot and I live far, but I come to the remedial classes because I want to obtain my 9th grade certificate in order to go to high school. I feel well supported and I'm learning. I am grateful to the Association and the teachers who offer me the possibility of growing every day and I take advantage of it." says Ibrahim, one of the students attending the remedial classes.

Because of the small groups, the teachers could get their ideas across easier and they were able to stimulate the students. The teachers did their utmost to motivate the students. As for the students, they felt more comfortable in learning, gained confidence in themselves, started really understanding more of the basics, and actually enjoyed going to the sessions. The students, little by little made progress, The teachers were able to explain individually to those in difficulty and painstakingly employed much patience, which happily resulted in evident progress in the students’ results. Stimulation was in the air. And there was hope!

In a short period of 3 months, 3/4 of the students attending the program transformed from academically-insecure students to reading-confident individuals. Whereas they avoided studying for the past 3 years, they were now happy to work hard and to do so willingly!

"Their transformation is not only displayed in their reading ability, but physically and emotionally, too. These students now stand tall and are proud of their achievements. I credit the remedial program for this." says a very convinced principal, Mr Barro.

Here is the good news! Where there is a will, there is a way!

The hard work that the teachers and students put into this program paid off.

75% of our students succeeded at getting their 9th grade certificate in July 2017!!

Both students and teachers were rewarded ….such an accomplishment for all concerned, as well as for the Hampaté Bâ School.

It is widely recognized that one of the preconditions of a country’s successful development is to have educated citizens. In Niger, educational attainment levels are quite low and even when children are attending schools, little is learned.

Happily we were able to overcome these hurdles through the remediation programs and private tutoring. We could not have done this without your generosity and we are very touched by your gestures. The students could not have succeeded without having been supported by you.

11 Students will be entering high school next year thanks to your donations! We need to continue our efforts and donations this year to keep improving the level of these underprivileged students through the remediation programs.

All donations, big and small, are welcome and are making a huge difference in our students’ lives! THANK YOU.

CALL FOR HELP ANSWERED BY NEW TUTORING PROGRAM

 We are proud to announce that after much reflection and active hard work, we have innovated a personalized tutoring program to answer our students’ cries for help and to avoid student dropout.

 Here is some background:

 Our Scholarship students coming to Hampaté Bâ School from public primary schools with classes of 80-100, often have a hard time adjusting to a new level of education, even though classes at Hampaté Bâ are much smaller. They arrive with a basic level of French which is very low, since it is not their mother tongue and not spoken at home. They essentially arrive in 6th grade with the enormous problem of not knowing how to read and write in French, a language which is not their own, but the language of their education.

 We witness the students’ incrediblestruggle to learn all subjects,since they are not proficient in reading and writing. It keeps them from studying and has a direct influence on their behavior. Low self-esteem and clowning become the result of poorly stimulated brains. Too many students leave middle school because of this.

 We hear these calls for help:

 “My son’s teacher says that my child talks too much in class, that his schoolwork is untidy and that he can’t complete assignments in the given time and none of his exercises are completed. Also, he copies information incorrectly from the blackboard and sometimes nothing at all. Can you please help my son? He wants to get an education, but he needs help. I cannot help him. I’m illiterate and I have four other children to take care of.”       

 “The principal says nothing makes sense when my daughter Charifa writes because she cannot read. And yet Charifa wants to become a nurse, help other people and help us.”

 “I can’t understand any of my math lessons. At home, there is no one to help me because my parents don’t know how to read and write. Sometimes, my neighbors try to help, but they are not always there, so I try to find a way myself and I get bad grades.”

 Les Amis de Hampaté Bâ did not turn a deaf ear to these pleas coming both from the parents and the students. There was a need for action and action we took.We are presently offering an after school remediation program to tutor underprivileged boys and girls privately and in very small groups.

 This is by no means an easy task. Teachers have to go back and do Grade 1 work again, even though a child might be in Grade 7 or 8. We have put these remediation classes together to help the students individually. For example, the Math Teacher does individual exercises with each student and corrects the exercises with them on the spot. The French teacher is able to help each student out according to their motivation and pay particular attention to each one according to their level of understanding and stimulate them so they can fully reap the benefits of this individual attention.

 When students make improvements in basic Reading, Writing, French and Math Skills, improvement in grades is seen across all other subject matters and that boosts the students’ self esteem and increases their motivation. The results of this program are certainly encouraging and families are very grateful for what we are doing.

 But it is not only our non-profit and the teachers who are striving to make this program work. The students themselves are making enormous efforts to attend the classes in order to better their education and raise their level, since it is so precious and vital to them. Some of them walk long distances of 1 hour or more by foot in more than 40 degree weather to attend these late afternoon classes because as one of them put it: “They have given me this chance. I am not letting it go!"

 Through this remediation program, we have discovered that our disadvantaged students relish the opportunity to get a proper education. They feel there is hope. As expressed by Zalika :

“Thanks to my private tutoring, I am understanding my studies better and am raising my level little by little. I want to improve my level and go to high school.”

It’s not evident to be a child living in the 4th poorest country in the world and to have opportunities for a quality education. We thank you for continuing to support our literacy and numeracy programs and to give these underprivileged students a chance for a better future.

Let them learn !

 Your donations make a big difference and we need them to continue helping these students and prevent early dropout.

 THANK YOU !