Many poor children in Niger never attend school and that is a distressing reality. But what is even more shocking is the fact that many of those who do go to school learn very little. Under the current model of education, half of Niger's total primary school population reaches adolescence without the basic skills needed to lead successful and productive lives. As a consequence, the prognosis for Niger's future economic growth and social development is not very good.
Hampaté Bâ Middle School is striving to address this deep learning crisis by raising teaching standards and improving learning outcomes, so as not to waste the potential of underprivileged Nigerien youth. This is by no means an easy task, but it can be done.
At Hampaté Bâ , the students are not on the receiving end of a monotone recitation geared towards rote learning. Here, they actually understand what they learn.
"Before coming to Hampaté Bâ, I used the word "century" a lot, but I never knew what it meant. Also, I did not know the difference between a country and a continent. Now I do", says proudly Abdou, a 7th grader in the school.
Aminatou, a bright-eyed 13 year old girl, had this to say about learning at Hampaté Bâ : "Before coming to this school, I used to learn all of my lessons by heart without understanding much and my teachers were satisfied with that. Here, the teachers make sure we understand what we recite or what we write. So learning by heart is good, but not enough."
Thanks to your generosity, we can offer quality education to students like Abdou and Aminata who, in primary section, went through 6 years of zero value-added schooling. Now, they are not only in secondary school but learning !
The ultimate aim of our association is to support Hampaté Bâ school in its efforts to equip underprivileged students like Abdou and Aminatou with the numeracy, literacy and wider skills that they need to realize their potential – and that their country, Niger, needs to generate jobs, innovation and economic growth.
Please help us achieve this aim. Your donations really count !! Thank you.