Quality Classrooms: Elevating Girls' Education
EDUCATING GIRLS FOR THE FUTURE
The value of educating girls can't be overestimated. Study after study indicate that when you invest in girls' education, your return is higher than when you in invest in boys. Girls are more likely to apply lessons from school to their everyday lives.
So, the old adage is true: when you educate a girl, you truly do educate a community.
Join imagine1day as we travel to eight different schools to find out how your generous contribution has made an impact on girls' education through our Quality Classrooms Program.
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School clubs are an important part of imagine1day's Quality Classrooms Program. Not only do they give students a chance to build on what they learn in the classroom, school clubs also afford students the opportunity to step into leadership positions.
The culture of rural, Northern Ethiopia is male-centric. Women do have their own tasks and responsibilities but they tend to fall towards the bottom of the leadership hierarchy within a community. When a girl is given the chance to be a leader of a School Club it is often the first time she has been encouraged to be vocal, courageous and to step into the spotlight. It is a huge step in her personal growth and truly opens her mind to the unlimited possibilities in her life.
Most schools that imagine1day works with have five schools clubs: (1) HIV and Gender Club, (2) Environment and Sanitation Club, (3) Language and Literature Club, (4) Sports and Art Club and (5) Civics and Ethics Club. Meet five extraordinary School Club leaders from some of our different schools...
Name: Milat
Age: 11
Grade: 4
School: Que'en Grade 1-4 Community School
Club leader of: the HIV and Gender Club
Club activities: "We write and perform different dramas/skits for our school to teach people about how HIV is transmitted and how they can protect themselves from it. We spend most of our time teaching other students the things they don't know about HIV/AIDS."
What she's learned about being a leader: "I have learned how to encourage people to be better people by trying new things and being brave. People want to be more than they are today but sometimes they need someone to tell them that they can."
What Milat's Principal is saying about her: "Milat is doing an incredible job of bringing together the girls at this school. Every girl at our school (all 87 of them) is a member of her club and she is giving them a platform for discussion. They experience the same problems and pressures when they are alone and to come together to talk about their issues - especially related to their health - helps them to understand that they are not alone and what they can do about it. This is the most important club at our school."
Name: Berhane
Age: 17
Grade: 8
School: Tsehafti Grade 1-8 Community School
Club leader of: the Sports and Art Club
Club activities: "We play sports together and organize tournaments for everyone. We learn rules and how to play different games. For Art Club we make up different dramas and put them on for the school. We combine sports and art by making up dances to different melodies."
What she's learned about being a leader: "Here (at the school) boys and girls play like equals. We have three times as many boys in this club as girls (115 boys, 57 girls) but everyone plays games together. To treat everyone as equal is important as a leader. People must feel like they are not lower than anyone else. Everyone is important."
Why is Sports and Art Club important for girls? "It is important because we get the chance to develop physically when we play sports and then mentally when we do art. There are health benefits to both."
What Berhane's Principal is saying about her: "Berhane is making a place for girls to feel comfortable playing sports. Here it is not common for a girl to play football (soccer) but because Berhane is a leader and the girls see her playing, they will go and join her."
Name: Mitslal
Age: 17
Grade: 4
School: Zeggaw Grade 1-4 Community School
Club leader of: the Civics and Ethics Club
Club activities: "We have different club meetings where we learn about what the rules at our school are, how to be fair and what is right and wrong. The club members learn how to be polite and how to treat other people well. We make small dramas (skits) to show students what their responsibilities are at school and at home."
What she's learned about being a leader: "Last year I was the leader of the Language and Literature Club at my school and this year I was elected to be the leader of the Civics and Ethics Club. To be selected as a leader you must be good in class and also have good grades - so I learned it is not easy to become a leader. I enjoy being a leader because I am happy when I see students change because of what I am teaching them. I like to see people become better - that is why I like being a leader."
How will being a leader now help you in the future? "I
want to be a doctor when I am older because there are many people in
our community with diseases and I want to help them. To help them they
must trust me and believe that I can help them - having people trust me
now teaches me how to gain trust later too."
What Mitslal's Principal is saying about her: "Mitslal has grown in confidence over the past year as a leader. She is more confident and is much more ready to speak what she thinks in her Club, in class, and around the community. She is learning that she has good ideas and that people want to hear them."
Name: Kelela
Age: 17
Grade: 8
School: Tsehafti Grade 1-8 Community School
Club leader of: the Language and Literature Club
Club activities: "In this club we have discussions on Monday in the morning about a set topic. We do these discussions in English, Amharic (Ethiopian National Language) and Tigrinia (local language). We also write poems and small stories. We pick the best ones and the author gets to present it in front of the school during morning line-up."
What she's learned about being a leader: "I am learning to be confident. I also am learning to handle more responsibility because in my club people depend on me to do things so I must complete these tasks. I know that being able to complete these responsibilities today will help me to complete much larger responsibilities in the future. Today I can lead my school, and then maybe one day I can lead my country."
What Kelela's Principal is saying about her: "Kelela shares her responsibilities as a Club Leader with a male student. In all our school clubs at Tsehafti we elect a boy and a girl to lead each club. This is because boys and girls excel at different things so when they work together they can address more issues and involve more students than if it was just one of them leading. Kelela has become very confident as a leader. She speaks clearly and people listen to her and follow what she says."
Name: Hanni
Age: 10
Grade: 2
School: Qu'een Grade 1-4 Community School
Club leader of: the Environment and Sanitation Club
Club activities: "We join together to talk about personal hygiene and different ways that each person can stay clean and healthy. Five times a week we water the trees at our school and we clean the classrooms too."
What she's learned about being a leader: "I am learning how to be in front of a large group of people. I don't get nervous anymore when I stand in front of people - I actually like it very much. The boys listen to me and they do what I say which is also fun! The more people listen to me and follow my suggestions the more I believe that I am a good leader and that I can do this."
What Hanni's Principal is saying about her: "Hanni is a quiet girl but when she is in front of a group leading her club she changes entirely. It is incredible to see. She leads by her actions for most of the time and then when it is time for the School Clubs she speaks and leads by explaining things and talking to people."
Books are valuable everywhere in the world and are treated like treasure in rural Northern Ethiopia. The only place here where most children have access to books is in their schools. Each classroom at imagine1day schools is home to over 130 books split between the four Reading Corners. And the Library at Daeritta Grade 1-8 Community School is no different. From a storybook about Bambi to a workbook about Ethiopian Governmental Structure the Reading Corners and Library at this remote school are well-stocked.
Girls in Northern Ethiopia often have more responsibilities at home than boys do and must return home immediately after school. While boys can stay and mingle around Reading Corners and in the Library, girls often do not have the same luxury. But that doesn't stop the girls from reading.
Meet two all-star students (among the top students in the region) from Daeritta Grade 1-8 Community School whose noses are constantly between the pages:
 Name: Teki Her gold star: "Last year I had an average grade of 98% and placed first in Grade 1 out of the 14 schools around this area. I got to attend a Question & Answer competition between all of them and I won!" Why she likes reading: "I like to read because the books show me pictures and stories that I haven't seen before. It makes me think about what else I don't know." Favourite book: "The English picture dictionary. I like the pictures because they make it easy to learn the words." Why the Reading Corner rocks: "I like the reading corner because here the seasons are very important and I need to give my time to support my family when it is the harvest. I wish I could stay at school longer but I have to go right home from school when my class is finished. But I can take a book home with me from the Reading Corner and then when I am keeping the house or waiting for the coffee to get hot I can read it." |
 Name: Mihret Her gold star: "Last year in Grade 6 I had a GPA of 92.5% and I placed first out of all the Grade 6 students in this Woreda (district). There are 75 schools and close to 3,000 students." Why she likes reading: "I like to read because I want to make history one day. If I read then I have knowledge of others' successes and failures in the past. Then I will know what to do for myself when the time comes." Favourite book: "I like the books about Math and English. This is because these are the two subjects I can use no matter what I decide to be in the future. They are very useful." Why the Library rocks: "At home I have many responsibilities after school. I make injera (Ethiopian flatbread) and coffee for my family, I fetch water and I collect firewood. But even though I cannot read in the library after school, I can take books home and I read them after I am finished the tasks I must do to help my family." |
Next, we journey to the community of Wazza to meet three extraordinary young women. With your generous support imagine1day has been able to provide sports materials, Science Kits and Life Skills training to Wazza Grade 1-8 Community School. Learn about how these programs have impacted these three students.
Active Learning Training is a component of imagine1day's Quality Classrooms Program that teaches teachers how to engage their students in class. Through this training, students and especially girls, are encouraged to stand up and take part in the learning process, to share their thoughts and ideas, and to be courageous in taking chances to answer questions. It is a participatory, student-centered approach to learning that cultivates confidence in girls in a safe environment where they are encouraged to grow. And it works!
But don't take our word for it. We caught up with Abada Grade 1-4 Community School Grade 1 teacher, Fotin Berah, to find out more...
FB: Active Learning Training is learning not to simply give education to the children but learning how to have them obtain it for themselves. I do not need to give them the answers but I can give them the tools they need to discover the answers on their own.
FB: I learned how to change the theory into practical examples. For example, instead of just telling the students that cigarettes are bad for them I show them the effect smoke has on their lungs using a sealed plastic bottle with a cigarette and cotton balls inside. To show them how a fish swims in the water I blew up a balloon and put plastic fins on it and set it in a pool of water.
FB: From my experience women know many, many things but they do not have enough confidence to say what they know so they do not share. Even for me, I did not participate in conversations before I went for this training. But this style of teaching brings out the best in my female students and gives them a space where they can speak what they think. For example, my student Meheret was extremely shy when she first started school. But in only a few months she is now much more confident and shares her ideas. She participates in the classroom but I also see her being more assertive when she is outside of school too.
Meet Saba - an 18-year-old Grade 8 student at Debub Grade 1-8 Community School. With high hopes of being a computer scientist she's at the top of her class for writing and you don't need to look much further than the poem she gave imagine1day to see why...
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Why does she write?
"Writing gives me the chance to describe many things," Saba told us speaking fluent English (a major accomplishment for a Grade 8 student). "When I write a poem it helps me to tell people about what I have learned - for example, with this poem I am teaching my friends about equality between boys and girls. Writing is a way that I share my ideas."
Creative writing is opening avenues of expression for Saba and other girls like her and imagine1day is more than excited to see to what heights Saba will soar in coming years.
In her address at Harvard University's Commencement a few years ago, J.K. Rowling, the famous author of the Harry Potter saga, said, "Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transforming and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathize with humans whose experiences we have never shared."
Art unlocks imagination and transports children beyond what they know into the world unseen - that's why imagine1day's Creative Classroom Program is so important to rounding out the Quality Classrooms family of programs.
"Art is an essential part of a complete education," says Creative Classroom art teacher and Mekelle-based artist, Desta. "Not every child understands the best with numbers or words - art offers these students the opportunity to express themselves and share their ideas."
Creative Classrooms starts at the very beginning. Desta starts by teaching students how to sharpen a pencil and then from there teaches students how to unleash their creativity!
"For girls art is particularly important because it is personal," says Desta. "They do not have to worry about speaking in front of the class or getting an answer right - they just pick up a pencil and pour themselves out onto the blank page. It is good for them and in its own way builds their confidence."
Our first stop on our Creative Classroom tour was Seffo Grade 1-4 Community School - the first school imagine1day built.
Here are some examples from each grade of Seffo's best and brightest artists (and yes, they're all girls).
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Your generous and unwavering support has provided essential components through imagine1day's Quality Classrooms Program to over 12,943 students in 29 schools - 6,571 of whom are girls.
As you can tell your contribution has made an indelible impact on thousands of girls in Northern Ethiopia and in a multitude of ways is preparing them with quality education today to be the leaders of tomorrow.
With love from many a quality classroom in Northern Ethiopia,
Your imagine1day team
