Community English Programme

The need for these projects (overview)

There are many parents on both tea estates and in the poor farming communities that want desperately to give their children the best start in life. For many, that means their children having a good command of the English language as it paves the way to better paid work away from generational, back-breaking manual labour. The remoteness of tea estates and farm land, not being able to afford the bus fare to travel to towns that have the appropriate facilities (often these towns are 2 hours away) and the lack of qualified English teachers in these areas, means that it is difficult for the children to learn good quality spoken and written English.

As part of our one year Professional Development Training Programme, the Tea Leaf Trust is training these students to deliver a basic English programme to primary aged children living on their own Tea Estates. This project is based on our pilot Nuwara Eliya Outreach Project. You can read more about it in our past project section.

How does the Maskeliya Community English Programme work?

First term

Wednesdays of the first term are used to teach our students how to teach. The curriculum for this basic teaching programme has been approved by the Education Ministry of Sri Lanka and delivered by the teachers of Tea Leaf Vision Centre for Professional Development. As part of their training exam, our students have to 'teach' one of the lesson plans to the Programme Director of the Tea Leaf Trust (Mr Tim Pare) and the Community English Programme Coordinator Mrs Beulah Davidson. At the end of the first term, students are divided into groups of twos and threes, ensuring those less confident in teaching are coupled with/put into a group with those comfortable who are speaking in front of a class. 

Second term and third term

Students are given a lesson plan each week, and on the Wednesday are expected to have read through it, so that they know what they are teaching, and ask the teaching staff about any problems that they have with the lesson plan. They are also expected to bring any resources (such as toys, pictures of the alphabet etc) that are needed for the lesson plan. They then practise their lesson plans in the morning with their teachers and classmates, to gain confidence.

In the afternoon, the students go back to their villages to teach a two hour basic English curriculum programme. Our 17 staff members who also go back with the students to monitor these classes. Each of our staff members will go to two different areas in the afternoon to monitor two groups as they teach the children in their community, and feed back to them on the following Wednesday. In order for our teachers to monitor the students, the Community English classes on the Tea Estates have been scheduled so that our teachers can move between two classes without missing any of the teaching.

Community involvement

Participating communities provide facilities and a free teaching area to in order for the classes to go ahead. It has been shown that the higher the stake a community has in a project, the more likely it is to be sustained by the community. Providing the facilities and the hall means that parents in these communities are more likely to support their children having extra English lessons.

Community leaders have ensured  the safety of the student teachers and the Tea Leaf Trust have also carried out risk assessments to ensure teaching in a safe environment.

Target groups:

• Children of primary school age who live in the poorest villages and Tea Estates surrounding Maskeliya
• Children whose families are unable to afford English lessons but are committed to their children's education
• All ethnic/religious groups, boys and girls

 

Who is responsible for concept and running of the Maskeliya Community English Programme?

The programme concept was developed by the Programme Director of the Tea Leaf Vision Centre for Professional Development, Tim Pare. It is run by Beulah Devadson, Senior Outreach Project Co-ordinator and Maxi Jerad, the Junior Outreach Project Co-ordinator. Hashika Wicramasayke, is the administrator for the programme.

How many children are currently receiving basic English lessons?

857 children are registered on to the Maskeliya Community English Programme, with more trying to register each week. Our student groups teach a class of up to 20 children, in community halls/centres provided free by the local community.

Is the programme free?

In order for the programme to be able to run, it is necessary to take a fee from each participating child. Most programmes like these start from 800 rupees upwards (£4.84), which is out of the price range for most families. We charge each child 200 rupees a month (1.20). This ensures that the programme is sustainable. For children who struggle with this amount, the Tea Leaf Trust subsidises their fee.

If you would like more information about the Maskeliya Community English Programme, please email us as info@tealeaftrust.com