The School on the Beach
Ever since 2005 when we first involved FODAD in the education of the children in our village, their parents asked us to pay for them to have extra lessons after school which finishes at 1.30pm Since 2007 we had been making ad-hoc payments for a number of children who were attending lessons with different tutors who had varying qualifications and proficiencies.
After a few years, we were unable to discern any improvement in the children’s abilities and so, as a result and at the suggestion of Udaya, in 2014 we turned the unrented room attached to his home into a school room.
Now known locally and by FODAD supporters as “The School on the Beach” there are two classrooms, desks, benches, white-boards and a projector. We employ 5 teachers on different afternoons of the week and on Saturday mornings. Between them, they teach English language, spoken English, Maths, Science, History and Religion. The children turn up early and the classrooms are full though some of the lessons only have one or two students on the beach itself as the Science and Maths students prepare for their ‘O’ level exams.
It is FODAD’s hope that by adding this additional benefit the children will learn to speak English, pass exams and as a result find employment that will take them and the rest of their families out of poverty.