I visited Saman’s school, grades 1-13 in a much more rural area of Wilgamuwa. This school, unlike the first school I visited, offers English to students beginning in Grade 1 (the other school only offered English beginning in Grade 6). Unfortunately, teachers with no English training are the instructors for students below Grade 6.
I observed a Grade 4 class that had 70 students in one classroom because one of the teachers was out sick. When I walked in, the students were eager to communicate with me, understood me when I spoke, and jumped to answer my questions. If I asked them what their favourite hobby is, every student wanted to tell me the answer. And they all answered in sentences. After I talked with them for 30 minutes, Saman read them a story book which had about 10 new vocabulary words for them. Despite the fact that it was so noisy from outside noise that I could not imagine how anyone could hear Saman, and though Saman was speaking exclusively in English, the children seemed to have total comprehension of what he was saying. He asked them questions about the pictures on each page, the students made predictions, then Saman taught them words and asked the students to read the story to him. (Each page had one sentence written in large print.) The students seemed to read the story with no difficulty, though they may have heard the story before. I was pleased to see students leaning over to see the pictures and actively speaking and participating. And these students do not have a teacher with ELL training. This suggests that the students in the region are eager to learn English and can be given a proper foundation even without the best conditions. However, few schools seem to have a program to teach English in Grades 1-5 so this situation is unusual.
When we later went to talk to Grade 12 students , who had not had instruction in English until they started Grade 6, and whose instruction was primarily grammar and rule based as opposed to communication based like the Grade 4 students I saw, the Grade 12 students were hesitant to speak to me, would not answer my questions and did not have any questions to ask me. I gave them a speech for a few minutes, one girl asked me several questions, and that was it.
Saman feels that these students did not have a proper foundation in English and so are too shy to use their language. He also told me about how poor the students are, how many miss school for a month around harvest time twice each year, and that the parents are unsupportive of the school’s education efforts and unable to help or encourage their children. Obviously, there are exceptions and some students do well despite these obstacles. Still, though the instruction I saw was again excellent, the social and out-of-school barriers are overwhelming and will stymie efforts of the district to improve the standard of living.
Saman is also the IT teacher at the school, which he does with no budget or training but because there is no one else to do the job. He showed me the computer lab, 13 computers, and some students do get instruction in programming in addition to word processing. However, the school does not have resources to upkeep the lab and Saman often comes to school 90 minutes early to try to do maintenance. There is an air conditioner in the lab but the school cannot afford to run it.
Also, it seemed to me like there were a lot of students who were unsupervised during the day. Older students were in rooms alone studying in groups, groups of younger students seemed to be wandering around the school campus, and at least one room had a class of students sitting at desks without a teacher in the room. Again, it appears like there is a teacher shortage that is affecting the long-term academic prospects of the students.
All things considered, I was impressed with the job that the teachers I met were doing, with Saman’s teaching, and with the enthusiasm of the students I met.
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