By Thierry Betz | Project Leader
Since October 2010, the first phase of the remediation project has started for secondary students. 80 students (45 girls and 35 boys) were subdivided into tutoring groups of 15 for their French classes. Textbooks were ordered in France and will soon be sent to the school in Niamey. This will allow students to follow a very rigorous language program and thus improve their limited French proficiency.
“Before, our teachers paid attention to the good students only. Now they spend more time with the ones who are behind level!” Student from 6th grade.
“Our French teacher got 15 of us together and explained the things we did not understand the first time. We were so touched by this action that we were really motivated to work harder.” Student from 7th grade.
“Sometimes you have to go slow in order to go fast. Spending more time on the basics, particularly French, represents a pathway to higher achievement in all subjects”, says Djamilou, the newly hired and trained French teacher.
As a start, 9 teachers have attended 4 professional development sessions and these training workshops are beginning to alter instructional behavior in a way that benefits students’ learning. Through analysis of student data, the sharing of student work, continual dialogue among the staff, 90- minute learning blocks, and homework sessions in the morning and evening, teachers hope to address the significant academic and French language skill gaps of entering students. Literacy is a primary focus of these years, helping students to accelerate their reading and writing skills to grade level as rapidly as possible.
Your donations will help us meet the challenge of turning learners into leaders. Our aim is to continue improving the quality of education for underprivileged youth, especially girls, and thus reduce the dropout rate.
We are so grateful for your support and we cannot wait to share with you the progress our students are making with this innovative program as the school year goes on.
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