“The Journey to School” -BBC Media Action
Researched,Produced,Edited and Presented by HOU AKOT HOU in Dinka
Language for broadcast on Local Radio Stations
In April 2014.
++++
Opening Billboard(with Music Bed)
Cue(Studio Recorded):Welcome to “Our school” bringing our community together.
Finding ways for education to benefit everyone. My name is Hou Akot Hou
In today’s program we hear about the problems some school children face when
walking to school and how it can affect their learning.
Many children might be losing interest to go on with their learning and decide to quit
school and some may face sickness for walking every day.
We will hear how a student who travels from far village to her school suffers on the
way.
BB Clip
“I wake at five in the morning, and leave the house at six. I reach to the school at
nine. I arrive to find some lessons have already been given”.
We also hear how some students are helping themselves.
BB Clip 2
“The reason we walk in group is that a girl might make a mistake if she does not
listen to her parents and the other one might be very honest and kind to people and
when together on the road and you get something on road then you talk with the one
who does not behave well to behave herself well so that she follows school and not
anything else”
And we hear how some communities are helping whole generations of children.
BB clip 3 “Building a school nearby helps students in reaching and escaping school
very easily. The very small children are now reaching school and we never get
worried about how they will weather the rain”
(Billboard Music Ends naturally at 1:07 with music flourish)
+++++++
CUE (Record in Studio): Across our state it’s common for children to have to walk
several hours to get to school. What kind of an impact does that have on their safety
and on their ability to learn? I’ve been finding out….
Today we will hear how a girl who travels from far gets affected by the long walk to
her school and what she faces as a problem for walking long. We will also hear from
a girl from a village where they have their school built by their parents for them, and
how some girls help themselves by walking in a group back home back to their
homes after lessons.
A member of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) will also tell us how they came
up with school construction idea in their village. We will also hear from teachers of
the public/government school to tell us what they know about the students who come
from far areas. And how do they help them out to help them carry on with learning.
CUE 1 (Field recording):
It’s early morning now as you hear cock crow in the village. I am seeing some people
moving on foot to town for different businesses in town just as students go for their
lessons in the morning.
I met up with Akon on the way to her school. She is 18 Years old and walks to a far
school which is about 2 hours from home to St. Maria Goreeti Comboni Secondary in
Aweil. With me now on the way is Akon. She tells us about her school day.
A1: I wake up around 5 and going to school takes two hours and I reach very late
around 9 or 10:00 AM. And coming back gets difficult I arrive around 4:00 PM.
Sometimes I never concentrate well. I miss some lessons. When I arrive I put my
books down and do some housework and revising my work is much harder.
Q1:You said you get to school late, and coming back is a not issue, what problems
do you face on the way?
A2: I face many problems on the way. When I arrive home I feel dizziness when I
settle at home and put me in a difficult situation to not read.
Q3: You said it’s too far as I can see now, what do you tell your teacher when you
arrive?
A2: When I arrive I report to the teacher I tell the teacher that I have arrived and he
tells me to fetch some water or clean the floor in the class room, they never allow me
to enter into class without doing anything.
Q4: What effect does it have on your learning?
I do not understand some of the subjects that I miss in the morning periods. Like
recently I didn’t do well in mathematics, chemistry and physics, I failed all these
subjects during the first and second terms and that is because it has been difficult to
arrive early.
Sound effects and cue: It is still morning here and we have arrived at the main road
and we are still proceeding to the school with Akon. And what you hear are cars
running on the road. We have already walked for about 30 minutes and now it is 8:20
in the morning.
Q5: Akon How are you feeling now about the long walk that we are going through
since morning?
A5: The long walk is making me getting tired; if the school were near we would have
arrived and could not tire us. Now it’s already 8:00 AM and some of the students
have arrived early already and this is hardening my life and studying.
Q6: Are you the only one who moves here up to Aweil?
A6: No, there are some children who move like me but they are only in primary
schools studying in Aweil, but for me am the only in secondary. The other pupils
have primary classes in the village but there is no secondary there.
Q7: But is there no alternative to get to school in the village here?
A7: Yes there is an alternative but that is difficult to take, the road that passes in the
forest has some mad men and criminals who could rob you of your properties like
money or take your books and if that road was done, it would have helped us to
reach easily.
Now we have arrived in the school and now it is 8:45. (+ Sound effects)
RECAP of Interview 1:
(LINK/Studio Recording)
That was Akon an 18 year old student who travels to St. Maria Goroti or comboni
Aweil secondary that takes 2 hour walk. We heard from her that travelling from a far
village to school makes her get tired and she loses concentration on her studies and
therefore performs badly. She said she misses lessons sometimes and finds it hard
to understand what is being taught. She also said that arriving late forces teachers to
ask her and other students to fetch water and clean the floor which takes her time
not to participate in lesson.
IDent with Music Sting
You are listening to “Our School” looking at how education can benefit your
community.
CUE 2(Studio Recording):
We have heard from Akon who faces challenges on her long walk to school like
other students in northern Bahr-el-Ghazal and all over South Sudan. Across the
state here and in the region, the long walk to school has become a big problem and
some of the students have taken a new initiative to reduce the long walk problems
associated with it.
(Field recording)
I am now at Maper East primary school that starts from Primary one to Primary eight.
Here I can see many boys and girls outside the school compound in yellow uniforms.
And many school children have a smiling face as I approach 17 year old Achol at
school. Many classrooms are almost full of students others are getting taught outside
the building. I am meeting Achol now. She narrates what they undertook.
A1: We chose to go in group and this helps us understand some difficult lessons. We
can interact and consult anything we didn’t get during teaching. That is one benefit of
it. We do so because some men can just interfere when you are going back or
coming, and that confuses you and destroys the learning spirit. But when in group
we could advise ourselves and anyone who comes up with the issue of love can be
advised immediately and it makes us concentrate on school issues, but individual
thinking allows one to decide alone and that might be negative.
Q3: How does your group walk help you overcome the attention of men when they
meet you?
A3: When they find us in group, we tell them we are students and having uniforms
signifies that I am a learner and that makes them go away. We are studying to
become good leaders and that serves as a warning.
Q5: You have a school nearby now at Maper village, how is it helping you?
A5: This school in our village is helping us a lot as it’s situated nearby us as girls we
can do some housework to help our mothers and if it were far it would have been
difficult to concentrate or help family work. We appreciate that it’s very near and if it
were far teachers would have been harsh with us, but now there is no problem
between them and us.
Q6: Is it helping you in performing well because you’re close to it?
A6: It doesn’t matter, if you don’t understanding ability and good teaching in the
class. Our teachers are good teachers they teach us well. It depends on how you
were taught and how ones understand things in the class.
Recap of Interview 2:
That was Achol a 17 year old P.7 pupil at Maper Primary school. You heard from her
why they have decided to overcome the issue of men who try to interfere with their
journey while they go to school, and not individually travelling, but now moving in
group of girls together. Also she said that their group walk has helped them discuss
more about what was taught in the class.
Has this story given you an understanding about the reasons girl students walk in
group. If so, are you able to do the same in your community to advise girls to walk in
group to help them chat among themselves about what have been taught like what
Achol said? Or could you give your child a bicycle for her travel to ease her long walk
challenge, or give her money for her to use for transport. Do you have other
solutions to help your child’s long walk to school?
IDent with Music Sting
You are listening to “Our School” looking at how education can benefit your
community.
Cue Interview 3 (Studio Recording):
So, what can the community members do to help their children who facing problems
due to the long walk to school? Maper elders have taken an option for their children
who have been travelling to far schools in town. They have made a school in the
village for their children, and this is an example of a solution to the long walk
challenges. One way to help children is by having a school nearby in the village so
now we will get to know from one member of the community, who have discussed
among themselves to have the school within the village for their children.
Autiak Duang who is the chairperson of the PTA for the local community. I met him
close to the school where he helps share community decisions about the school with
the teachers. As we sit outside, he tells us what they did to construct the school.
A1: When we came up with idea it was through a meeting held at Maper village here.
This came about as a result of many incidents of children reported facing problems
as they go to Mading Aweil (the main Town) as if anything went wrong we would not
know it especially during rainy season so as parents we devised the plan to build
one and as a group we said we could contribute money for the construction of the
school.
Q2: When did you come up with that idea?
A2: It was in 2009, we realized it’s important to have one in the village and the
community members contributed trees or woods to make the grass-thatched roofs as
classes for the school children instead of concrete classes. We put up those grass
thatched classes and asked the unemployed youth to start teaching the children
immediately and the government gave us some teachers who were on payroll. Some
of these people in this village are those who came from Khartoum, so are returnees
and they also took interest in having the school nearby here. The following year,
2010 we started the real contribution each house was asked to pay 10 SSP for
school project.
Q4: Anything else you did to make this school stand as today?
A3: We did an assessment as a community and then organised the construction of
the building. A Non-governmental organization came in, they brought the technician
and builders and also the iron-sheets and that was our work as a community. It was
then handed over to government and it’s now a public school.
Q5: You are now a member of the community and a PTA chairperson, why do you
think having this school in the village is important?
A5: I find it interesting to have the school nearby here because of several reasons.
One is that the small children now are not suffering as before from the rain. Also they
don’t get tired due to the long walk because they just wake up and come here, no
suffering due to sun’s heat either - they are just close to their home.
RECAP of Interview 3:
(Studio recording): And that was Autiak Duang, the PTA chairperson at Maper East
Primary school who told us that having the school children close by helps them to
not suffer from rain or heat. He also stressed that the community members
themselves are more responsible for their children’s issues by contributing money to
construct the school close by.
IDent with Music Sting
You are listening to “Our School” looking at how education can benefit your
community.
Interview 4: (Studio recording)
But what about in public or government schools - how do teachers deal with distance
issues? We will now take a closer look at the issue of children walking long distances
to public schools, and find out from teachers at public schools to see how they have
recognized the students problems with distance. I went to St.Ayeng Primary school
to hear the teachers views on the long walk problems that students go through and
how they advise.
(Field recording)
I am now at the government school called Santo Ayeng. This school is from Primary
one to Eight and as I look outside the window I can see some children playing
outside after having received lessons and now some of the children are outside for a
break. I am meeting the headmaster in his office, sitting beside his desk with
stationary on it.
Q1: Some of the students whom we talked with who come from far places like Maper
and other areas in Aweil, they say when they arrive late at a school, the teacher
does not let them enter the class. Some say they are punished by being made to
sweep or fetch water or fill the pot. What are you doing in your school here which is
different to other schools?
A3: Yes, to us the policy for a child who arrives late is not to blame the child. Being
late in the morning is not the fault of the child. The home where she travels from is
far and there is no transport for her to come to school early, so as teachers we know
the situations people are in. So if the child comes late then we never give her a
punishment or a job for arriving late. We know that it is not the child who makes that
mistake of coming late because her home is not close already and then chooses to
be late.
Q4: If the child arrives late and finds the teacher in the class already and has started
giving lessons. What type of help do you give such a child?
A4: If he comes late and finds the teacher inside the class then the teacher
continues to finish that subject and after that then teacher repeats the lesson for all
of them including the one who just arrived.
Q5: Because of the long journey some children have, which makes them poorly in
class, what alternatives have you started using to help them perform better though
they come from far? Do you have new ways to help such students in their learning?
A5: We have talked to their parents. Every child who comes from far is given a letter
to take to his parents so that they come and we talk with them. Whenever a child is
taken to school they should be ready for real work. So when a child goes from school
here to home and then given other house-chores then it becomes a hard work for the
child. Because when she returns from here around two in the afternoon, and then
sent to market or to cook food and other things till it becomes dark, there will be no
time for reading, and already there is no light to help him study at night.
For this reason, we tell the fathers or mothers that they should let their children
study. And anyone studying has a right to be given a chance to follow what she
wants to do. And also the subjects are very many, so there should be enough time
given to the children to study. And this is what we agreed. And we have meetings
every three months to brief the parents.
Recap of Interview 4 with Teachers of public school
You have learnt from the teachers of the public school at Santos Ayang that, as
Malong Ayii said, they never put the blame on children too much for arriving late.
Conclusion:
We have learnt that students can face many challenges when they travel from far to
school, like dizziness from tiredness, rain hitting them while going back and also they
lack proper concentration in their studies. We have also heard how community
members came up with an idea of contributing money to make a school for their
children and how is that helping them now.
Also in this episode we learnt how a group of girls benefit a lot from walking in group
to and from school. You heard a girl say it helps them concentrate in subjects well by
discussing what has been taught, like those who never grasp information very well
and are advised by some from within the group.You have also heard how the girls
avoid men by walking in group to deter men from approaching them.
Also you have learnt how teachers in public schools help those who come from far
by having lessons revised, and also you heard how teachers like at Santos Ayang
give advice to parents to give children time to concentrate in lessons,
Interactive call here with Music Bed:
“Remember this is your programme. We want to hear from you about how your
education is going, whether you’re a pupil a parent or a teacher we want to hear your
problems and solution. Text us on 0921496103 or 0954895572
That is all for today. Thanks for listening to this program. ‘Our School’ is brought to
you by BBC Media Action with funding from UK,Department for International
Development. I am Hou Akot Hou, Bye bye
+++ END +++