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EDUCATIONEducation in generalThe Somawathi Home focuses a lot of attention on education and extra tuition,benefitting the in-home children and the children in the region.The overall development of the children is of utmost importance and will help themgain self-confidence and a better chance to succeed in the future.The government schoolDaily the school-age children attend the government school next door. The Trust hasexpanded the school with 8 new classrooms, sanitary facilities and school furniture. TheEducational level of the local school is poor to average. Teachers prefer to work in majorcities at schools with more facilities. Placement of adequate teachers proves to be aproblem for the Government. For this reason the Somawathi Home puts great emphasisto extra tuition.In school uniformsThe in-home children attend school – just as all the other kids- wearing uniforms.The smaller children are brought to and from school by the caremothers.The elder children (7 -10 years old) can walk home by themselves. Each child carrieshis/her own schoolbag with a drink and something to eat (some rice and fruit).The dux of the schoolSeveral children have scored very high marks in school exams. They belong to thebest of their class or even the ‘dux of the school’. Several children have beenappointed ‘class monitor’.This is partly due to the homework classes and extra lessons, but all in all it isextremely good for building up their self-respect and confidence.Montessori pre-schoolThe Montessori pre-school on the grounds is attended by both the in-homechildren as the children from the neighbouring villages. In total the Montessori preschoolhas 40 pupils in the age group 4 – 5 years old.The in-home children can make friendships with village children and the outdoor world.At the same time the pre-school facility is an asset to the poor villagers.In uniform to the Montessori Pre-SchoolNot all the village children have suitable clothing and proper shoes to go to school.To ensure that all the children are dressed equally, the home provides uniforms toall the young students attending the pre-school.23