Report by BHW Field Director Following Visit 11-13 March

Key person:  Barbara Gill

Recent Events

New School Year

The school continues to grow. I was visiting on the second day of a new school year so it was a little chaotic, though nothing out of the ordinary I imagine. They are in the process of taking admissions and currently have about 130 registered however they expect this to go over 150 within a couple of months. 

They have tried increasing the fees but are meeting substantial resistance, mainly from those who don’t pay the lower fees! There are now 13 employees including Barbara. They all get paid apart from Barbara! About 15 students don’t pay anything, their parents are very poor. 

As it was early in the year Barbara was very busy interviewing potential students and their parents. The previous day she had more than 40 parents in for interviews. She is very capable of holding her own in the discussions and when hard decisions have to be made. Even with the local mufti, she reckons he’s scared of her!

The school has had a nice paint job and is looking attractive and tidy.  

Current Situation 

The current student numbers are up as I said. At this point in time there are:

30 students in nursery 
30 students in prep
25 in class one 
12 in class two
9 in class three 
6 in class four
9 in class five
4 in class six

It was unfortunate that the day I visited was only the second day of the new school year, it was a Friday (half day) and it was pouring with rain so a lot of the little kids were not there. 

The classrooms are developing well and most are decorated attractively. Barbara attempts to keep a high standard in the school. Most of the teachers are students who are working at the school in the mornings and then studying in the afternoons. This is how they are able to afford to run the school. The curriculum is the strength of the quality of the education they are delivering. 

Partnership's Influence within the Community

The school is developing a good reputation in the community. I had the opportunity to meet the mufti and his 2iC whose children are at the school. They are sending their children so they can learn English we all think but they are very happy with the standard of education and what the children are learning. 

Numerous other parents came through and I was able to get the impression that they were very happy with what is going on. 

Current Issues and Challenges

Getting enough students quickly enough to get it into profit is a challenge. There are issues taking on older students. They are not used to the higher standards of the Cambridge system so struggle to pass the tests.

Apart from that, there are few other major challenges. 

Prayer and Praise Points

1) The school is providing great education to the students 
2) The school is growing in numbers and reputation
3) They have more Christian teachers now which is a bonus
4) They are able to use the facilities for other purposes, the sewing centre and for a local church that Azam is helping to pastor 
5) The development of understanding between the Christian and Moslem community that is an outcome of the school being in the community. This has always been one of Azam’s goals. 

Comments

This school continues to grow and develop and provide opportunity for people in this growing area to get a good education. My concern is that they are not adding enough older children to the higher classes as they pay more than the little ones. The small classes at class 5 and 6 are a drag on funds with one teacher for 4 students. This will sort itself out eventually, but it’s taking a long time. 

BHW funds go towards the costs of the school and the building is funded out of the income from the students and other sources. It is still not breaking even but is almost there, within a year or two. The ongoing development costs continue to be a burden but they are getting there.