Category: Malaysia

Education is a three-legged stool, the legs being the student, the parent, and the teacher. When one leg is missing, the process of education becomes more challenging. Thus in Sabah the staff have been meeting up with the parents during the December school vacation. Meeting up with them before the school year begins in January helps the teachers to find out the needs and interests of individual students.

During the Dec 2013 visits to the villages where Goducate has set up learning centers, the officer in charge of curriculum went with the four area coordinators to all 21 learning centers. Students and parents were invited to their respective centers for a talk. Then the visiting team spent a few days at each village, accompanied by the local teacher or teachers, doing home visits.

Home visiting is very effective at supporting parents and young children. The team brings along some food, medicines, and toys. Meeting the parents and children in a relaxed setting helps in bridging cultural barriers, reporting on academic progress, enlisting parental support to increase academic achievement, and giving parents the tools with which to do so. The visits give the staff a better understanding of what support the student has or what challenges the student faces.

During the visit the staff document and record important information, including issues that could become potential problems such as health conditions, relevant family situations, or previous schools problems.

The team has found that if possible the teacher should maintain follow-up meetings with the parents. Parents become more willing to share their concerns, and teachers can encourage the parents’ continued involvement in their child’s academic life.

Goducate teachers in Sabah spent Jan 1-2 attending their 1st teacher-training camp. The teachers at the Goducate learning centers in Sabah are mostly the women who have had some education. Goducate sends teacher trainers over at least twice a year. In the past the teachers would turn each day for the sessions, but this time, they stayed over for a night. 42 teachers attended the camp.

Our regular trainer and curriculum developer went over to teach them how to improve their teaching skills and class management. She was accompanied by four others who taught the teachers team-building activities and various games, the principles of running an “English corner”, and how to produce visual aids for the classroom. In addition the teachers were given motivational talks.

During an English corner, students would be gathered round a teacher or facilitator to learn English by talking about a chosen topic. It would be a session during which the students rather than the teachers would do most of the talking.

The communities that Goducate serves in Sabah live in very poor and unsanitary surroundings, so one aspect of Goducate work there is health education, with a strong emphasis on hygiene. In addition there is a regular deworming program for the students.

To reinforce the hygiene program, and to teach about environmental friendliness, a Clean and Green competition was organized for the learning centers. The objectives of the competition were to reinforce learning about cleanliness and a healthy environment by:

Maintaining cleanliness of the learning centers and beautifying them with plants
Putting up informational bulletins in the learning centers about various aspects of personal and environmental health Encouraging team work and team building in keeping the learning centers clean, and Inspiring the children to maintain and beautify their own surroundings.

21 number of learning centers took part in the competition, which lasted through September and October 2013. Teachers, students, and parents participated in the cleaning and greening effort. Judging started from the third week of September to the end of October 2013, with the results being announced on Oct 31.