In September 2015 we opened Neesim Junior High School and our first class of Primary School leavers moved on to the next stage of their education.
We were delighted to begin the school year with a new classroom complete with furniture and ready to use, along with textbooks for the next three years and funds to set up a science lab! Thanks to some generous donors we now have funding to complete the whole Junior High classroom block in early 2016.
We employed four new teaching staff, as Junior High Schools have subject teachers rather than one class teacher. Three of these teachers are degree holders, and one is a diploma holder bringing a higher standard to our school.
Each teacher teaches several subjects in the Junior High School (JHS), and since we only have one JHS class so far they are also free to teach some lessons in the primary school. These are lessons which some of our primary teachers struggle to teach, and we hope that by acting as teaching assistants in these lessons, the primary teachers will learn new skills, enabling them to teach these subjects better in the future. We are particularly pleased to now have a teacher experienced with computers who can teach IT lessons across the whole school.
However, the funding for the salaries of our JHS teachers continues to be a challenge. All four teachers agreed to work the first term for an allowance of about one third of what they expect given their qualifications whilst we searched for funds to pay a full salary. From January 2016 we would like to pay our Junior High School teachers the full salary they deserve, but we don’t yet have all the funds we need. Could you help? Click here to find out how to donate.
One of our JHS pupils shared her story with us:
“I enrolled at Neesim Primary School three years ago when I was in Primary 4. My previous school was very different because there were not enough learning materials so we were struggling a lot. When I first came to this school it was not easy for me at all. The subjects which were difficult for me were English language and Integrated Science. My teacher helped me a lot because he was so patient and explained things at our level of understanding.
I understand my lessons now. IT and BDT (Basic Design and Technology) are the subjects I find difficult now, but maths, English language, science, and RME (Religious and Moral education) are easy for me. Mathematics is my favourite subject. The teachers are all doing well in helping us to understand their lessons systematically. My parents are happy with how I am doing in school.
I have learnt through this school to be patient with my colleagues, lovely with sharing ideas and respectful of other people
I try to go to Neesim library four times a week after school. However house chores make it difficult for me to come to the library and learn. I like the school library because I can find any information I am looking for. I like to read the encyclopaedias, history books, and some story books. My favourite book is the Children’s Encyclopaedia because it explains things clearly to me when we have Integrated Science lessons and I want to do more research. When I grow up I want to be a doctor.
I would like to say a very big thank you to our donors for the great help in this school. But I would like to say they should please continue the good work so that our school will graduate to a higher educational level. May God richly bless them all.”