A Guide to Pupil Sponsorship 2013

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there is one. Some pupils are fortunate and live close enough to a local secondary school to travel there daily. But for a Secondary School pupil who does not, there is no choice; if their family cannot fi nd the money for tuition and boarding fees their education comes to an end. The Mfuwe area has just two secondary schools; Matula High School which is close to the airport, and Mfuwe Day Secondary School. Mfuwe Day Secondary School, whilst being a ‘day school’ offers unoffi cial boarding facilities for kids who live too far away to commute daily. The Zambian school year - The school year starts in January and ends in December. There are three terms in a year and they usually each last three months. The fi rst break is around the end of April but does not necessarily coincide with Easter, the second is in August and the third starts in December. This last break for Christmas is usually the longest as it coincides with the rainy season and the main planting time for maize. In rural areas most kids will work in the family’s fi eld at this time. The school day - The school day starts at 7:00 and most kids will arrive without breakfast. Lessons are usually about 40 minutes long and at 9:40 kids will have a morning break. At 12:40 the school breaks for lunch. At secondary schools ‘prep’ may take place between 14:00 and 16:00 when pupils are not engaged in other activities. These activities may include their Production Unit (PU) - working in the school fi eld growing maize or another crop; Preventative Maintenance (PM) which entails sweeping classrooms or the surrounding area or slashing the grass to keep it short. One afternoon may be devoted to sport. 4 Tests and Exams - During the last two weeks of each term tests are set in all subjects. Project Luangwa sponsored pupils are required to bring their results to us so we can monitor their progress. Boarding schools are often slow to send reports and often we do not receive these until half way through the following term. Our sponsored pupils are expected to attain minimum marks set by us in order to keep their sponsorship and all exam results are sent to the sponsor. The months of October and November are National exam time. At the end of grade 7 pupils sit their Certifi cate of Primary Education exam, the grade 9 pupils for their Certifi cate of Junior Secondary Education and the grade 12s for their fi nal School Certifi cate Exams. All these exam papers are set by the Examination Council of Zambia. As the school year starts in January the exams are taken in October and November, the hottest time of the year. The results come out in stages. During the fi rst week or two of January the Grade 7 results are sent to the schools for pupils to collect and it is then that they’ll learn which school has offered them a place in grade 8. Next to become available, usually in the last week of January, are the grade 9 results, but it is not until late February or even March we see the results for the Grade 12 exams. The realities at school - The vast majority of rural schools in Zambia don’t have enough classrooms or teachers and in basic schools it’s not unusual to see around 100 children in one class. Neither is it unusual for fi ve or more pupils to share a text book or worse, there be just one . . . . for the teacher. Rarely are there enough desks and many children may spend
their day sitting on the fl oor. Most secondary level pupils may fare better but not all. Schools vary and PL works with the Zambian Ministry of Education to improve infrastructure at our local secondary school, Mfuwe Day. An average day for many day scholars- Pupils living at home will get up around 5:00 and start their chores. There will be water to fetch from the borehole and it may take several trips to make sure that there is enough, ther’s also washing-up to be done from the night before and the area around the house to be swept. At lunch time many pupils will make their way home - some will have had lunch prepared for them, others will cook lunch for themselves and their siblings, and for others, who have poor parents or guardians, there may be nothing to eat. There may be more chores to do before going back to school for the afternoon. Many children do not make it back at all. If they and are late they will most likely be punished with extra physical work such as ‘slashing’. After school it’s more chores and some kids (especially girls) will fi nish only when it gets dark. This means that it is too dark to study or do homework as few families have electricity and some cannot afford candles. We try to supply all day pupils with a solar light to help with evening study. 5 When do you start sponsorship? Sponsorship runs in line with the Zambian school year - January to December. Applicants start arriving at the Project Luangwa offi ce from December onwards and by the second week of January the daily queues can consist of fi fty or more hopeful students. In early January applicants are mostly pupils who have completed their Grade 7 exams the previous term and have just received their Certifi cate of Primary Education exam results as well as acceptance letters from the various secondary schools. Most are looking for help to attend a distant boarding school however Project Luangwa has recently taken the decision to encourage Grade 8 and 9 kids to stay at their local schools for these two grades. Around the end of January the results of the Grade 9 or Certifi cate of Junior Secondary Education exam results are published and the pupils will receive letters telling them to which school they have been allocated. And, once again, there will be long queues of hopeful students outside the Project Luangwa offi ce. Grade 7 pupils queue to apply for sponsorship at the Project Luangwa offi ce
Page 1 and 2: A Guide to Pupil Sponsorship 2013 Y
Page 3: All About Education in Zambia www.p
Page 7 and 8: I want to sponsor a girl . . . why
Page 9 and 10: www.projectluangwa.org/sponsorship
Page 11 and 12: There are two schools in the Easter

A Guide to Pupil Sponsorship 2013

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