There are few public schools in the Cacine area. The public schools that are there have few resources and the teachers are always uncertain whether they will receive their salary, as the government is often unable to pay. Communities have been trying to fill the need for schools and teachers by building ‘Community Schools’ and staffing them with people in the village who have had some education. Students are asked to pay approximately $1/month to help pay the teachers’ salaries and buy resources. Often, students are unable to meet this expectation. In both cases, teachers are left without salaries and resources and must leave the schools to find work to sustain their families.
The dream of AAEGB is to find people and/or organizations to adopt each of these schools. The goal is to provide enough funds so that the teachers could receive a guaranteed monthly wage (approx. $40US/month/teacher). This would allow teachers the security they need to be able to teach and still support their families.
Currently, two schools have been adopted with support from a Canadian Elementary School, Malcolm Tweddle, and friends from Canada and Sweden. Cassumba School completed its first year under the Adopt a School program. At the years´ end, 134 students were enrolled. Eighty-five were promoted to the next grade. This school year (2015 – 2016) two schools will be supported under this program. Cassumba will continue to receive full support for teachers and students. There are enough funds to also support resources for students who attend Cabexanque Tanda Community School. The number of students enrolled in Cassumba is 134 and in Cabexanque Tanda is 83 for the 2015 2016 school year.
AAEGB would be pleased to hear from schools, other organizations or individuals who would be interested in participating in this program.
