Khadija Shale/BORESHA Project
It’s a great morning in Rhamu, Mandera. The sun shining bright, but the students of Tawakal primary school are excited to be in the newly built classroom and are no longer sitting under the tree or experiencing the strong winds and sun which used to be part of their daily school life.
Photo by Abdiaziz Barre: Tawakal Primary school Pupil in the newly built classroom.
Tawakal school is on the outskirts of Rhamu town. The school was started through a community initiative. This was necessitated by the need to avoid the risks arising from the long distance the students were travelling daily to access their previous school. Tawakal started as a nursery school. However, due to the increasing number of learners, following advocacy by the community and elected leaders, it was eventually certified as a public primary school. Currently, the school accommodates 242 pupils, 74 of them being girls.
After the school was promoted from nursery to primary school the population of students grew and its institutional needs also increased. The school had only two classes to accommodate nursery and primary students, which forced some of the children to share classes and others to learn under the tree without desks and chairs to sit on. The institution also lacked basic facilities such as latrines. The pupil-teacher ratio is very high.
During community discussions, it came out clearly that many pupils who should be transitioning to the next class every year drop out of school due lack of enough classes and schools near the village. It was evident during the review of the Community Action Plan, Tawakal school came at the top of the list of priority infrastructure.
Through actioning of community plans, the BORESHA project constructed two new classrooms and rehabilitated and equipped them with 30 desks. The new classrooms have increased the visibility of the school to both locals and other partners who may want to support the school
Figure 2:Newly Built Classroom
Mohamed Sheikh the school headteacher explains:” I can’t explain how happy I am now when I imagine how the school used to be before this development happened; pupils were sharing classes, and this congested our space’’ he says, pointing to an old room that was used by class 1 and elementary class together. Pupils used to move to other schools owing to limited classrooms. “Transition was a nightmare for us since we didn’t have enough classrooms. Parents here are poor so most could not afford another school and allowed their children to drop out, especially the girl children” he says, staring at the horizon. “But now thanks to BORESHA, who not only provided quality classrooms but also equipped them with desks for a conducive environment to learners, next term we will attract more learners and increase the enrolment” he concludes.