The Friends of Bonou

SCHOOL LINKS

We are committed to establishing links between secondary schools in England and schools in Bénin to promote cultural links and joint curricular work. The area where we work at the moment is Dangbo, one of the largest towns in the Bonou region

Image of Dangbo

The town of Dangbo

Dangbo is where the young people from Bonou attend secondary school. The town has a population of 70,000 and is an agricultural area whose main products are palm oil, vegetables and fishing. Dangbo provides the capital, Porto-Novo, with the majority of its fish and vegetables. There are 56 primary schools in Dangbo that feed into the Lycée (secondary school), in addition to the rural primary schools like Bonou. One of the UN Millennium Development Goals is for all African countries to achieve universal primary education by 2015. Bénin is actively pursuing the goal but the democratic government is struggling due to poor infrastructure (buildings in particular) and a lack of resources (teachers and learning materials). Parents do supplement where they can; but without basic textbooks it will be some time before all Bénin’s children receive the full education they are entitled to.

Image of Lycée

Bonou Primary School

Dangbo Lycée

The Lycée has 2,600 students and is a state school with a small annual contribution (£9 per child) from parents. The school is co-ed and the students are taught in classes of 70-80. Resources such as learning materials, books and ICT equipment are extremely limited. For example, the school only has 2 very old computers, no photocopier and, as textbooks are not in sufficient quantity for all the students, there is an “alternate week” lending system whereby the books are taken out of the library one week by half the class and the following week by the other half of the class… The ‘library’ is housed in a small shack; the books within it are over-used, of poor quality and are inadequate to meet the needs of the large and growing number of students.

Primary schools

The Friends of Bonou, in partnership with the Mairie of Dangbo (local government) are trying to improve the educational opportunities of the pupils of the 56 primary schools by providing the 2 basic textbooks for each child – French and Maths (approximately £2.60 per child). We are aiming to provide between 500 and 1000 children per year. It will ensure that primary children from Dangbo Lycée’s feeder schools have the best start possible to their secondary education

Some essential ingredients for a good link

Lead teachers from both schools who have a passion and commitment to develop the link and have support from their colleagues
Use the UKOWLA ( UK One World Linking Association) tool kit whose whole purpose is to encourage and promote relationships between diverse cultures which benefits both partners.
Senior management endorsement within the school, and link written into School Development Plan
Support and encouragement from Friends Of Bonou !
Funding - three potential sources :

Ø DfID’s Global Schools Partnership

Ø British Council North South linking Programme

ONE MISSING

The potential and benefits of a school link

IT IS NOT ABOUT MONEY BUT ABOUT:

1) Cultural Awareness/Exchange

this is 2-way – not just English students learning about ‘Africa’ – it’s about MUTUAL understanding
It can start small and build e.g. from letter/email contact or swapping photos to exchange visits. At Henry Box school in Witney in Oxfordshire the link with Muhura school in Rwanda has been in existence for 4/5 years – 2 teams of students have been over from Henry Box and there have been teacher exchanges. The Muhura headteacher visit for 2 weeks visited in December 2005 and 4 Rwandan students visited in July 2006.
Henry Box and Muhura schools have a partnership agreement which has three aims:

Ø Providing opportunities for staff and students to celebrate similarities and differences between their cultures

Ø Enhancing curricula with global themes and providing professional development opportunities for staff

Ø Providing staff and students with fresh perspectives on their lives, in and out of school

2) Curriculum development

Again this should be a 2-way street – teacher exchanges very valuable
From this end we can provide resources e.g. books, equipment but also expertise e.g. teacher exchanges etc.
It can be so much more than learning about slavery in history – e.g. potential for modern language/French departments to link, environmental and other issues of relevance in Geography, citizenship curriculum will benefit, potential for IT links – cyber buddies etc – and of course the international language of sport and football!!
For example there could be a music initiative which explored the global dimension of diversity/equality through the study of music at both schools
We have specific examples of cross-curricular work at Henry Box
Schools can provide opportunities for development of ICT skills of both staff and students through the setting up, use and maintenance of a link website
Work in schools can reach different parts/year groups - older students leading with younger ones developing interest through a ‘club’ or primary schools within a secondary school partnership might like to get involved

3) Practical support

Visiting groups can undertake specific projects - e.g. building work in schools, community buildings etc – this can also be 2-way if/when the Béninois students visit here – we also need help and support!