Malawi based NGO confirmed success of the The Happy Classrooms project; a group that paints child-friendly and curriculum related paintings on classroom walls. Happy Classrooms is supported by boNGO Worldwide (based on Need-driven Grassroots Ownership), a non-profit organization aimed at supporting Malawi education and community development efforts.
The project was originally created to improve learning conditions and provide powerful teaching tools to public primary education classrooms. Tereza Mirovicova, Managing Director for Happy Classrooms, said the project brought great success for both teachers and students; a wider variety of teaching methods began to be used, student concentration improved, students were able to remember and understand the material, and schools became a more inspiring learning environment.
A teacher from the Masuku primary school in Madziabango said “it is encouraging to see the children learning by themselves, just by spending time in the classroom. We have observed that they start writing and reading easier, being in the environment that inspires them.”
Unicef census reports that out of 6.8 million Malawi children, over 10 percent of school aged children do not attend school while only 26 percent complete the entire primary school cycle. Primary school classrooms are bare and dark with over 150 students taught by a single teacher and limited materials, ultimately contributing to low student retention.
Since the projects’ beginning in 2011, boNGO has painting over 800 Happy Classrooms with an average of 150 pupils per classroom, totaling to over one million children benefitting from the program. 40 Malawi-based companies, private donators, and Concern Universal have agreed to support funding for the project. boNGO is currently seeking additional benefactors to multiply the number of painters and boost the program’s progression.
Creative Commons Love: Josh Wood on Flickr.com
Written by Rachel Pozivenec