Our second week at Vukani Combined School has come to an end. During this week, we had the opportunity to teach the 8th-grade students at the school. There are approximately 90 students divided into two classes. We took over teaching Natural Sciences, Social Science, and English. To teach these subjects, we had to get creative since we had limited resources to work with. We primarily used basic materials such as a blackboard, chalk, notebooks, and pencils. Textbooks were available but were shared among the students during lessons. Making copies was possible, but we faced occasional electricity issues, so we always had a backup plan. Quite a bit of our time was spent writing notes on the blackboard, which could have been printed if not for the electricity problems.<\/p>\n
The school doesn’t have weekly study plans, so the students don’t always know what they’ll be learning. Surprisingly, they seem accustomed to this. Their motivation to learn differs from what we’ve experienced in Norway. At the end of each year, they must pass exams in every subject. Failing an exam means repeating the year. This commitment to learning plays a significant role in reducing poverty within the community. As Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,” and that’s precisely how many of the children in Hankey can break free from poverty.Another challenge we faced was communication. The students are used to having teachers who explain in both Xhosa and English. However, when we took on the role of teachers, they only received explanations in English.<\/p>\n
The classrooms at the school are usually overcrowded, with 40 to 60 students in each. Some classrooms lack sufficient lighting and proper ventilation. The building itself is sometimes in poor condition. Nevertheless, the students persist, demonstrating their adaptability and determination. They manage to focus on their studies despite distractions from outside the classrooms. The outdoor play area for the students is quite small and surrounded by fences, offering limited space for fun during the two short breaks in the school day. However, the students have found ways to make the most of this confined area, emphasizing teamwork and creativity.<\/p>\n
One notable initiative at the school is the provision of a daily meal. This not only supports the students’ physical well-being but also serves as a strong incentive for regular attendance, recognizing the connection between nourishing young minds and sustainable development. There’s a 3000-liter water tank in the schoolyard where the learners can get drinking water, although we’ve noticed they seldom drink water during lessons.<\/p>\n
In addition to our teaching, a film crew from the university has been following us, conducting interviews, and filming our teaching sessions. During breaks, we’ve had fun playing with the youngest children at the school. Without scheduled lessons after school, we’ve also enjoyed some surfing and additional filming. Over the weekend, we watched the thrilling rugby semifinal between England and South Africa. On Sunday, we visited Tsitsikamma National Park with Tiia and Brynjulv, where we experienced the beauty of nature.<\/p>\n
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Our second week at Vukani Combined School has come to an end. During this week, we had the opportunity to teach the 8th-grade students at the school. There are approximately 90 students divided into two classes. We took over teaching Natural Sciences, Social Science, and English. To teach these subjects, we had to get creative […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123462,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1080","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9","category-5-10"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/itensa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/itensa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/itensa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/itensa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123462"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/itensa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/itensa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":355,"href":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/itensa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309\/revisions\/355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/itensa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/itensa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/itensa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}