Foundational Learning Systems

The Foundation For All Future Learning

Children who cannot read by age ten will struggle to learn anything else. Foundational literacy and numeracy are not optional. They are the platform on which every other skill is built. ACHILD Kenya strengthens the systems that deliver early learning.

 

The Reality

Studies indicate that, only four in ten children in our counties can read at grade level by age ten. Teachers are undertrained and under resourced, especially at the preschool level. Most learners at the elementary level learn in dilapidated buildings where classrooms leak and children sit on floors. The Pupil-teacher ratios often reaches 73 to 1. Pre-schools have no course books, limited meals, and inadequate funiture. Often children in rural schools arrive hungry and leave having learned nothing.

WHAT WE DO

We train teachers. Every year, we deliver five-day intensive training on the Competency-Based Curriculum, play-based learning, inclusive education, and classroom management. As a follow-up, we visit classrooms quarterly to mentor teachers in their own schools. We have also, established Teacher Learning Circles where teachers support each other monthly without waiting for external experts. To ensure children have access to a conducive learning environment, we renovate classrooms, replace leaking roofs, and install child-sized furniture. We paint walls with stimulating learning content and create spaces where children feel safe and valued. We provide learning materials and equip centres with books, manipulatives, art supplies including play-based learning kits that align with how young children actually learn.

RESULTS WE HAVE HELPED TO ACHIEVE