CAR: CONTRIBUTING TO THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN FROM EARLY CHILDHOOD

With ECW funding, Jesuit Refugee Service is extending radio learning programmes to help children flourish in these difficult times.

By Education Cannot Wait

October 13^th, 2020

Mélanie, 49 years old, used to sell fruits in the market in Bambari, her hometown. In 2016, she was trained as a preschool teacher when the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) launched their preschool education project in the area and has been working with them since then.

Special Contribution by the Jesuit Refugee Service (Original Story)

“The most rewarding part of my job is the joy of contributing to the education of children in my country, from early childhood. I am very happy to see these children start their first lessons by my side and then grow up to go further.

I am happy to be among those participating in building a better future for my country and I am also very satisfied with the number of girls who are enrolled in preschool; Step by step, there are more girls than boys. Last year, I had 26 girls and 23 boys in my class. That is very encouraging!

Photo © Jesuit Refugee Service/West Africa

COVID-19 delayed our work. With the children being at home, we were not able to continue our education program as before. This pandemic stopped everything and life itself became difficult.

I was lucky enough to be part of the School Radio Team, l’École à la Radio; The program was launched by JRS with the support of Education Cannot Wait (ECW). It helped to manage this crisis and allowed me to continue to teach many more children than usual. I was used to teaching 40 to 50 kids; But with l’École à la Radio, I taught a few thousand. I think this program has helped me personally — To flourish as a teacher and to still feel useful to little children in the midst of the Coronavirus crisis.

In my opinion, education is very important because it shapes the conscience and helps train people to become useful to society. Education helps to develop the country. By reducing the illiteracy rate, we will have fewer problems because people will be trained to respect life and the community.

In general, preschool is very neglected in the region. The state has not yet developed a good support system for preschool teachers. Most receive little or nothing from the state. As a result, many prefer to find other activities or to work in private schools.

As a teacher, I encounter some challenges such as when the pedagogic kits for the preschool training centre disappeared. Some parents don’t pay the school fees to support the teachers and, more than one time, I have been insulted by the parents who didn’t want to pay and who aren’t aware of the importance of preschool education.

CAR: CONTRIBUTING TO THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN FROM EARLY CHILDHOOD

Communities must understand and recognize that we [preschool teachers] bring a lot to the education of their children. This training process begins in early childhood and the community must understand that education is everyone's business, not just the teachers.

I would like to have adequate teaching materials. In my school, there is a lack of appropriate material for children's games; We need it for the better development of children in play areas. Preschool teachers need to be trained to take better care of children too. My school, and other preschools, are not secure and are vulnerable to theft. We would like to have a fence made of durable materials for added security, not made from planks or bamboo.”

2019 Update

By 2019, more than 580,000 people were internally displaced and 606,000 were living as refugees in neighbouring countries. In response, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) helped reintegrate 11,463 (44% girls) IDP and returnee children into formal schools.

Learn more about the impact of ECW funded programming in the Central Africa Republic (CAR) in our 2019 Annual Report.

Education Cannot Wait’s ‘Stories from the Field’ series features the voices of our implementing partners, children, youth and the communities we support. These stories have only been lightly edited to reflect the authentic voice of these frontlines partners on the ground. The views expressed in the Stories from the Field series do not necessarily reflect those of Education Cannot Wait, our Secretariat, donors or UN Member States.

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