Pastor Richard Awah set up a small school in some rooms of his Holyrock Mountain of Light Church two years ago.
The vision is to make quality education accessible to children in the area. The aim is to work with like-minded individuals and/or organizations to reduce illiteracy and poor educational basis in the Afikpo community by providing quality education at low cost to the parents.
Richard was one of our project partners in the renovation of the U-block of the Amuro/Mgbom public school, which we funded. There he learned why some parents do not want their children to attend large public schools.
The Amuro/Mgbom school accommodates 1,700 schoolchildren and employs more than 80 teachers. Despite the infrastructure improved by our project, such large schools also have limitations and deficiencies. However, there is no alternative to this school, simply because of the number of children that can be taught there.
As our experience in India shows, it is often difficult to keep the infrastructure in good condition in public schools over the long term. School management is not always “optimal”, teachers are often busy with personal matters and their motivation is sometimes low. Due to the very poor economic situation in the rural areas of these countries, teachers are more concerned with money (and thus a reasonably bearable life) than with carrying out their teaching duties. The safety of all children in these large schools is not always guaranteed because the entire school grounds cannot be overlooked and access is possible from anywhere. Many children leave public schools without a qualification.
The Morning Starlight School was founded to provide children in poverty with a better basic education. The HUMAN-Stiftung (Foundation) has agreed to support the Morning Starlight School by covering the teachers’ salaries and, over time, carrying out smaller infrastructure measures, such as school equipment, building a playground, etc.
Currently, around 40 children attend the school, which will not grow much. There are Nursery groups (preschool) and five classes with the goal of expanding the school to 6th grade. The number of children per class is deliberately kept very small and allows for intensive teaching and targeted support. In the next five years, we will see how the Morning Starlight School concept develops.
We wish Pastor Richard and his team of teachers all the best and are happy for the children who can attend this school.
We will not completely give up on the renovation project of the public Amuro/Mgbom school, however, as the government is known to not invest anything in infrastructure and the children suffer as a result. Great progress has already been made through the renovation of the U-Block, the construction of a water supply and the two toilet blocks. Our mid-term goal is to renovate at least one further building.