Excerpt from article by Aviva Ben Hefer and Janette Hirschmann -

Published in Shalom Magazine for Alumni of MASHAV Training Courses - Jerusalem 2011

 

Education is fundamental to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and national development because it is necessary both for the improvement of living standards and for economic and technological advancement. In early 2006 the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI) chose Kumasi as a Millennium City, and has since then been conducting research aimed at identifying the services, resources and infrastructure needed for the people of Kumasi to attain the MDGs. Within this framework, a successful partnership was forged between MCI-MASHAV and the Kumasi Metropolitan Authorities.

 

MCI, together with Early Childhood Education specialists from the Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center (MCTC), one of MASHAV's core professional training institutes, cooperated to develop a system of early childhood education with the goal of implementing it in all public schools in Kumasi and its surroundings.

 

The aims of the program:

 

The project began in 2008 by visiting and observing the kindergartens in Kumasi and mapping out the situation. The findings showed small, dark classrooms with up to 100 children crowded around tables, sitting on chairs of different heights. The children all faced the teacher, who stood in front of them, holding a long cane and pointing it at English letters on the blackboard. The children were expected to repeat, again and again, what the teacher said in English, since that was the language of instruction. There were no books in the classroom suitable to their culture, and stories were never read to them. The teachers, who had been trained as primary school teachers, were using the same methodology that they had learned at school, and were now emulating in the kindergarten.

 

Following a meeting with the Metro Director of Education in Kumasi and the MCI Project Manager in Ghana, it was decided that the first step of the program would be to bring the Metro Director and her staff of four early childhood development coordinators to Israel to see and learn a different way of organizing ECD. The Director and her staff decided. upon their return from Israel, that they would choose five schools, with their 25 kindergarten teachers to be the pilot group. A first Israeli team went to Kumasi to train these kindergarten teachers.

 

The first realization was that children learn through play and experience. The main emphasis was on building a new learning environment because we believe that a change of environment will help to change the approach to the new ideas. The new environment included activity corners for socio-dramatic play, a book corner, a corner for creative activities, blocks and table games, at different levels and which could be used in different teaching situations.

 

In addition to this, the number of children in the class had to be reduced. The teachers identified the need to write books presenting their own folk tales and cultural heritage, and how to read them to the children. When the teachers agreed to change the arrangement of the rooms they enthusiastically collected toys and other materials for the children to play with.

 

    

 

In the time since the program started, great changes have been seen in the kindergartens. The number of children in each class has been reduced, and there is more space in the classroom, the arrangement is more flexible and the learning environment has changed to include relevant "talking walls", display of the children's work and activity centers. Reading books has become part of the daily schedule, and at least twice a week the room is organized for free play. The kindergarten reflects the integrative program of all the domains, allowing the children to learn through active participation, playing in small groups, learning to return toys and materials to their place.

 

In 2011 the first group of graduates of our kindergartens entered first grade. In a small survey done with the first grade teachers, the information showed that the graduates of the project came to school better prepared and with more confidence. The professional team and the kindergarten teachers are so proud of their achievements. They are motivated and determined to change their way of teaching and provide a good start in life for their pupils. They feel that they are pioneers, and are becoming proficient so that they can spread their knowledge.

 

The project has been expanded to include five more schools in the Kumasi area, with a further 25 kindergarten teachers, each of whom has been adopted by one of the more experienced teachers in the pilot project. Fifty kindergarten teachers in Kumasi are in the process of  change.

 

MCI has recently declared Accra as its newest Millennium City. Future planning includes replicating in Accra the MASHAV-MCI's ECD program as being presently implemented in Kumasi; with the ultimate goal of expanding the model to the whole country following a national education strategy.