New ways of learning: Melanie Pearson in Rwanda

Old-fashioned teaching mean children do not reach full potential

Volunteer Melanie Pearson is working as a Primary Methodology Trainer in Nyanza, a rural district in the southern province of Rwanda. Her role there is vital, as while Rwanda is making huge strides to Millennium Development Goal 2 (primary education for all), severe poverty in rural areas and old-fashioned methods of teaching mean that while 19 out of every 20 children are now completing primary education, often they do not reach their full potential.

Lack of resources makes teachers’ jobs difficult

Particularly in rural areas like Nyanza large class sizes and lack of resources make teachers’ jobs very difficult, meaning they resort to the old ‘chalk and talk’ method – in which teachers stand at the front talking, rather than involving children in tasks and games. This can be ineffective, limiting children’s attention span by requiring them only to listen, rather than ‘do’.

Melanie runs workshops for teachers at every primary school in the district

With support from the District Education Officer and other VSO colleagues, Melanie is working to help improve teaching methods and in so doing improve children’s chances of learning. Currently she is running a series of workshops for all teachers from the 76 primary schools across Nyanza, where she is sharing ideas to better engage children in their lessons. Methods such as using local resources as visual aids, setting up group-work and encouraging children to ask questions, gets them learning through participation, as well as giving teachers the chance to check for understanding.

Her work will benefit over 65,000 children, including Clementine

By developing these teachers’ skills, Melanie will not only benefit the 65,614 children who are currently at primary school in Nyanza, but also their younger brothers and sisters, and future generations. One pupil who is desperate to do well is Clementine, a 16 year-old girl at Ntyazo Primary School, in a very poor part of Nyanza. Clementine is in her final year of primary education, and is part of Rwanda’s catch up programme for children who have dropped out from schooling in their early years.

Clementine walks for one and a half hours to get to school each day. She enjoys learning and dreams of becoming a doctor so that she can improve healthcare in remote areas like the village she lives in. However, she often feels frustrated because she doesn’t get good marks in class. She finds learning difficult because her school has very few materials and her mother cannot afford to buy her notebooks.

The chance to achieve dreams

Nine out of ten Rwandans are subsistence farmers – Clementine’s mother is one of them. But with Melanie’s help, Clementine’s teachers are developing new techniques to help her learn, so that one day girls and boys like her have the chance to achieve their dreams of college, university and beyond.