The
new school year officially began on the 3rd of March, but in reality, things took a little while longer to get started. Thanks to general organisational problems in the schools and many other complicating factors, school began in earnest for most teachers and pupils one to two weeks later.
In the meantime SKIP was busy purchasing and distributing school uniforms, shoes and materials to upwards of 245 children enrolled in the programme. With the different requirements of the kids and some inevitable problems involving suppliers, this proved to be quite a challenge. All the new uniforms and shoes were made by local workers and some old uniforms have been either swapped or re-sold.
Next year we will help set up workshops for groups of mothers to make and sell school uniforms themselves as we did in 2005 and 2006.
In Peru, education is still not properly funded by the state. Families have to pay directly for things such as registration, basic classroom materials, electricity and security. Many people simply cannot afford the cost. To make matters worse the system is open to abuse. It is not uncommon for children and their families to be asked to pay for expensive and unnecessary items. For this reason SKIP has provided the children this year with the materials we believe are essential for school life and learning.
We have also been working alongside parents to help them with the registration process, paying school fees directly when necessary or negotiating reductions on their behalf. A recent change in government policy has meant that school fees (including teachers’ wages and school infrastructure) should technically be paid for by the State, but there has been some inconsistency in its implementation so far.
In the weeks since the beginning of term, SKIP workers have been meeting with parents and paying regular visits to the schools to ensure that the children have everything they need for a smooth start to the year ahead. We will continue to make regular visits to monitor the progress of our pupils and try to facilitate better relations between parents, teaching staff and children.
We would like to extend our thanks to all our donors and sponsors whose support makes our work here possible. And especially, we would like to express our gratitude to all the people in Ireland who sponsored our volunteer Joseph McCullagh.
new school year officially began on the 3rd of March, but in reality, things took a little while longer to get started. Thanks to general organisational problems in the schools and many other complicating factors, school began in earnest for most teachers and pupils one to two weeks later.In the meantime SKIP was busy purchasing and distributing school uniforms, shoes and materials to upwards of 245 children enrolled in the programme. With the different requirements of the kids and some inevitable problems involving suppliers, this proved to be quite a challenge. All the new uniforms and shoes were made by local workers and some old uniforms have been either swapped or re-sold.
Next year we will help set up workshops for groups of mothers to make and sell school uniforms themselves as we did in 2005 and 2006.In Peru, education is still not properly funded by the state. Families have to pay directly for things such as registration, basic classroom materials, electricity and security. Many people simply cannot afford the cost. To make matters worse the system is open to abuse. It is not uncommon for children and their families to be asked to pay for expensive and unnecessary items. For this reason SKIP has provided the children this year with the materials we believe are essential for school life and learning.
We have also been working alongside parents to help them with the registration process, paying school fees directly when necessary or negotiating reductions on their behalf. A recent change in government policy has meant that school fees (including teachers’ wages and school infrastructure) should technically be paid for by the State, but there has been some inconsistency in its implementation so far.
In the weeks since the beginning of term, SKIP workers have been meeting with parents and paying regular visits to the schools to ensure that the children have everything they need for a smooth start to the year ahead. We will continue to make regular visits to monitor the progress of our pupils and try to facilitate better relations between parents, teaching staff and children.
We would like to extend our thanks to all our donors and sponsors whose support makes our work here possible. And especially, we would like to express our gratitude to all the people in Ireland who sponsored our volunteer Joseph McCullagh.
