The Making of a School

The opening of the new, and the only, Secondary school in the village in 2005 gave the children an opportunity to continue up to further education.

The makeshift classroom was built by the local people from bamboo and coconut leaves. Inside the classroom there were only twenty chairs for the sixty-seven enrolled pupils, meaning that the majority of the students needed to bring their own chairs. Other classes had had their lessons outside in a tent if the weather permitted.

The current facilities and equipment are still woefully inadequate, despite the improvements which have already been made. There are shortages of all basic needs, such as textbooks, or a library or even a canteen where the children can go during their lunch and tea breaks. Although, the children are happy and very grateful that they have a school in their neighbourhood, they are very aware, that they do not have access to the facilities they need and that they do not have the opportunity to develop and demonstrate their talents and potential.

Recently, thanks to the support of local people and businesses, the school has acquired three new classrooms made of bricks and timber. A corrugated iron roof keeps out the rain, but it gets very hot during the summer and extremely noisy when it rains.