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De CO Foundation is een zogenaamde ‘implementing partner’ voor dit project. Dit betekent dat gelden voor Queensland School door andere mensen en organisaties worden binnengehaald en dat de CO Foundation alleen zorgt voor een goede besteding van deze gelden en een verantwoording van investeringen en activiteiten. Dit project wordt vooral mogelijk gemaakt door Juul Schellekens uit Eindhoven met ondersteuning van haar ouders Bart en Emmy.
Belangrijk is het feit dat Queensland school gelegen is in de sloppenwijk Agbogbloshie in Accra. Agbogbloshie is de meest vervuilde plek op aarde en de plaats waar door het westen gedumpte computers, koelkasten, batterijen, TV’s en andere electronische rommel met de hand wordt gedemonteerd en ontmanteld om de nog bruikbare onderdelen te recyclen. De verontreiniging met vooral zware metalen zorgt voor dood en verderf in deze wijk. Queensland school probeert een oase te zijn voor schoolgaande kinderen in de leeftijd tussen 3 en 16 jaar waar niet alleen les wordt gegeven, maar kinderen ook te eten krijgen en in een veilige omgeving kunnen werken aan een betere toekomst.
Hieronder staat een stukje achtergrond informatie over de Queensland school geschreven door een lokale fan van het project.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The above school was established Madam Paulina Nlando on 23 September 2003. It first started with a number of twelve (12) Children made up of two boys and ten girls. Madam Paulina saw the need to help the children in the community who were loitering around during the day without going to school. She gathered these children and with the help of his children will sit around with them and sing songs and teach them basic alphabets and numeracy. The number increased since many parents will love to have their children taken care of whiles they have time to sell in the market.
Based on this, Madam Paulina engaged the services of High School students to help with the many children who came to there every morning .This birthed Queensland school. Paulina was added to the name of the school when the school was about to be registered with the state so that she can be remembered after her.
The motto of the school is “where zeroes becomes heroes. The school was formally inaugurated in 2006.
Now, the above school can be boast of above three hundred and three (303) students. The form two(s) as the pioneers of the school and come June 2015 they will be writing the Basic Certificate examination.
AIMS AND ASPIRATIONS:
The chief aim of establishing the school is to breach the gap between north and the south education wise. Also madam seeing the way most of the children in the community roaming about aimlessly, some being stolen, knocked down by big trucks and some of them engaging in bad things. Thought it wise estasbling a school which will train the future leaders.
The aim is to train the children up to the university level and also giving them best of quality education with the almighty God and the help and support of generous sponsors.
CHALLENGES:
The Paulina’s Queensland School, which enrolls students from nursery to primary Junior High school form 2, though there more classroom now than before, its classrooms is overcrowded, ventilation not something to write home about. This does make room for quality education and proper teaching. The school currently does not have a toilet facility to cater for the children and staff as well. The school does not have an ICT center for computer studies because there space for that. The current kitchen space is very small and does not auger well for the children whose classroom is very close to the kitchen.
The school is not supported by the government or the Ghana Education Service and children in school do not go by strictly with government standardised curriculum, and are taught by teachers who are not properly trained, most of who have only the Senior High School certificate. Also there school does not have the necessary resources to engaged in trained teaches to help with teaching and learning in the school.
FUTURE PLANS/PROJECTIONS
• To have a school expansion/extension project by 2018.This can be achieved by:
I. Acquiring a piece of land near the school to accommodate the and reduce the overcrowded classes we already
have. The plan is to break the classes to A&B where we have large numbers of students in class. The
acquisition of the proposed site will cost GH¢10,000.
II. The next phase of the extension work is to build a one story building classroom which will have a toilet
facility and extra classroom to help with the overcrowding situation the school finds itself in as at now.
Building of the proposed classrooms and with toilet facilities is estimated to cost GH¢85,000
• DECONGESTION OF CURRENT CLASSROOMS BY 3 YEARS TIME BY:
I. Stop admitting more children in the next academic year especially those in the lower and upper primary. The
expectation is that if the JHS 2 students leave next year, there will be one room that will be available of
a classroom which can accommodate some students from the already overcrowding class.
II. This will enhance effective classroom learning.
• CAPACITY BUILDING FOR TEACHING STAFF THROUGH:
I. Further education for the teachers
II. Recruitment of new trained teachers