Preparing wards of the ultra-poor for schooling

Children learning language with the help of cards of alphabets at the Early Childhood Learning Centre at Kajoli village in Sreepur upazila in Magura. PHOTO: STAR

Belal will be six soon. He is excited because he is well prepared to get admitted to a government primary school next year.

Son of a day-labourer, he also knows manners on welcoming a guest at the pre-school centre at Kajoli village in Sreepur upazila in Magura district.

At the Early Childhood Learning Centre (ECLC), Belal welcomed this correspondent saying 'Assalmualaikum'.

Belal is a student of this school since its establishment three years ago.

Things were different earlier. Schooling or education was beyond the reach of Belal's poor father Sharifuddin and many others like him in Kajoli and neighbouring villages.

"All our thoughts centred on how to earn two meals a day; we did not think about anything else", said Sharifuddin while talking to this correspondent.

One morning a gentleman named Bashir Ahmed came to our house and told me that he has set up a school and requested me to send my son", said Belal's mother Sufia.

"I thought, why not. Belal goes out (of house) in the morning, roams round in the village, picks up quarrel with other boys and is up for mischief all the time. So, I decided to send him there (school) because I will be free from worries.

"I took a right decision", a beaming Sufia said.

The ECLC at Kajoli is an outcome of a research project supported by Research Initiatives Bangladesh (RIB). The research began under the banner of Child Development Research Centre (CDRC) at Kajoli, village home of RIB chairman Dr. Shamsul Bari. Prof Bashir Ahmed is its Chief Research Officer.

The research work took shape in January 2003 when the ECLC was set up at Kajoli. By now, the Kajoli model pre-school centre has been replicated in 103 villages in the country, its officials said.

"Dr. Shamsul Bari planned the research to develop pre-school centres for children of ultra-poor families in villages. The methods of running pre-school centres are being modified constantly by utilising experiences to attract poor children," Bashir explained.

Like other ECLCs in the country, children at the ECLE in Kajoli are taught that learning is all 'fun and games'. "It is not a school. It is a gathering of children where they are taught things amid fun and to help them grow confident", Bashir said.

With 26 students at Kajoli ECLC, Dipali Sarkar is the lone teacher there. She is called 'Didimoni' (elder sister).

Children stay at the centre for about four hours a day, except on Fridays. The students are taught free of cost. A direct method of teaching is used. Instead of starting with alphabets, students at first learn words with the help of pictures. Students do not use any book, pen or pencil.

Apart from learning to read, write and count, the children also learn to recite rhymes and poems, sing songs and tell stories, Dipali said.

The children also learn about nutrition and cleanliness. A distinguished feature is that the children of only six years get an opportunity to operate computer also.