Mopping up 2016 work-wise

·     

The students have been finished for just over two weeks and now I am on holidays too. Steve and I have been reconnoitring possible places take any family and friends who come to visit us over the next 8 months.  I am writing this from a shady cabana at the New Court View Hotel Masindi.

The last few days have been all about birds – Steve’s life list has increased by 30 since Tuesday when we set off for Murchison Falls NP.  I enjoyed seeing the Nile River and there were very many new to me antelopes in the national park.  We have travelled to the far west of Uganda and looked at the Democratic Republic of Congo across Lake Albert (don’t tell DFAT!) from the Albertine Rift. 

Chinese slot machine

Masindi district has a large sugar industry owned (we’ve been told) by Indian interests.  I need to do some research to see if they have held it since pre-Amin or if it is more recent.  It brings employment and therefore cash to the locals in the villages around it.  We have noticed very many of the gambling machines that are causing a problem in Uganda on the verandas of the shops.  They are cheap slot machines (they cost about US$150) that are unregulated and are reported to be being used by school children who are wagging school and stealing from their parents to feed their addiction (the most lurid claims by ‘Clerics’) but at the very least are probably not ‘a good thing’.

Birding with Raymond - crick in the neck guaranteed!

Also near Masindi there is a famous forest – Budongo Forest – managed for conservation of flora and fauna by the Ugandan National Forests Authority.  We paid US$20 each today for the privilege of strolling, in the company of Raymond, a local guide, down the ‘Royal Mile’ that has a very large number of locally endemic birds that Steve was keen to see.  Apart from the driving – still legendary and not in a good way – which continues to be stressful even in rural areas and national parks (we saw a RAV4 totalled on the main Murchison Falls NP road yesterday which was sobering!) we are feeling quite relaxed after a very busy start to our 12 months in Uganda.

A road hazard

My last work task was being on the interview panel for the new teachers for next year.  Over 8 hours we interviewed 40 applicants for the available positions and then decided on to whom to offer the jobs.

The campus where I usually work will become ‘complete’ with the first Primary 7 class next year.  The other campus will go up to Primary 3 after two years of just having the nursery classes.  This has meant hiring another ten teachers to begin in 2017.

My Head Teacher does not think you can really “know” an applicant from the letter of application and wanted to interview every applicant.  I’d thought 20 would be enough so inviting 60 was probably a compromise.  (I was alerted to this when Ange told me she’d printed 60 of the interview forms at his request!)  In the end 40 applicants, mostly new graduates, presented themselves for inspection at 9:00 am and by 4:30 we had spoken with them all!  The questions on the interview script were interesting – many would not pass muster in Australia for instance: What is your religion?  Do you have any political affiliations?  Do you have any health concerns?  How much do you want to earn?  Answers were also very interesting.  To the question “What is your discipline philosophy?” we heard “I make the learners my friends then they do what I want”, “First I forgive them” and “I use the Bible” as well as “The second time I use a stick”!  One of the teacher training colleges must be a Bill Rogers convert as we also heard several times “We have classroom rules and regulations.”

Another problem was the over supply of excellent upper primary maths and science teachers and the under supply of inspiring lower primary teachers offering English and literacy as their major subject.  I’m sure though that we’ll be able to whip those we’ve hired into shape and they’ll be exceptionally inspiring users of child centred methods by February 6^th when the students return to school.

The penultimate task, during the previous week, had been recording registration details at the two schools.  All the Kampala based staff with lap-top computers were involved, as was Steve, and we each had a 'local' teacher to ask the questions and interpret the answers for the spreadsheet.  Each child had sat an entrance 'interview' exam to make sure they were aiming for the right class (these I had composed, typed and had printed as recorded in the previous post!) but the answers on family income and circumstance will be what determines if they get one of the limited places.  A single mother of eight children earning about Ush50,000/= (AU$20) per month has a pretty good shot of getting her youngest in, especially as the second to last, currently enrolled in P1, has Down Syndrome and the mother is getting limited help from the child's father.  There were many sad stories told at the registration days but the uplifting thing was the value placed on education by all the families and the high regard in which School for Life is held in the communities where it works.

Registration day at Katuuso PS

In Victoria for the last several years we’ve had 1 or 2 days of preparation time before the students begin.  At my schools here we will have 3 weeks!  This time will be spent doing workshops with the teachers and preparing teaching aids.  The rooms will also be thoroughly prepared as stimulating learning environments before the students begin.  The Head Teacher is trained in the Varkey Instructional Program.  This is a system sponsored by the Varkey Foundation, an Indian/ Anglo charitable foundation that works in developing countries. (Varkey is also the owner of the GEMS private schools in many African and Middle East countries, which charge fees that make Geelong Grammar look cheap!) It promotes child-friendly and activity based teaching methods and is used by all the current teachers at my schools.  The current teachers will get a refresher course too and I guess they will be able to mentor the new teachers.  I have been preparing some workshops too.  The topics include Gender Socialisation (and how to avoid it!), Whole School Approach to Discipline (The Bill Rogers Method), the Differentiated Curriculum (or how equal outcomes for all children is not essential) and introducing the SfL Child Protection Policy.  

So, I have two weeks of holidays, then a week or so to get my activity based workshops together ready for the teachers who will start again, refreshed and recharged in mid-January.

Our askari Richard was really disappointed when we told him he'd be on his own for Christmas, but his eyes did light up when he saw his Christmas stocking.

Mossie net, new shirt and treats!

Next blog will have pics of our safari.

Best wishes to everyone for a Happy Christmas, love from Jenny.