Parent Power!

A Parents Committee, elected by all parents in their community, is busy managing Kabingo School- one of four Cord has helped to build in Rutana Province, Burundi.

Now in its second term, the school educates 700 children in 6 classrooms and has 8 teachers, with the parents ensuring classes are covered if a teacher is absent. They also visit families to ensure that children are being sent to school.

‘Before Kabingo School was built our children were taught in a hall borrowed from the Catholic Church, but they had to travel 3 - 4 kms each way to get there,’ said a committee member. ‘We told the local authorities we needed another school many times, and eventually they told us to gather building materials.

‘So we gathered stones for the foundations, then Cord supported us and provided more materials. Some of us helped to build the new school, and the children helped too!’

‘This school is good because they don’t turn any children away. In the past, some children couldn’t attend because there was no room. It’s important for children to learn French and English, so that they can translate for us parents. They will be able to help us, and the rest of the community, to read and write letters. This will be very important for our country’s future.’

The Parents Committee would like to run a food programme in the school whereby they would cook a meal every day for all the children, which would also encourage attendance. However, the school is already a victim of its success; the new building has attracted even more children to enrol, meaning class sizes have grown!

‘We are very thankful to Cord for this school, but we are worried about the overcrowding, so ideally we would like even more classrooms. The children are so keen that now we also need more teachers, more desks and text books!’ added the Parents’ Committee member.