Homework Programme not a day care centre – Hon. Fahie
“This Homework programme will be a productive programme. It will not be a day care centre or a holding centre for parents,” Hon. Fahie said, “The parent’s or guardian’s involvement is just as important as the children themselves.”
He told the members of the community gathered that they would be taking a significant step as a First District Community to create an environment that will allow young citizens the best possible opportunity to reach their highest potential.
Dubbed the Bambelela (never give up) Homework programme, Hon. Fahie said, “The launching of this First District Homework programme will allow our children at the primary level, initially, to register to attend the programme in order to get the help they need in a particular subject area(s).”
The programme is being offered free of cost to residents of the First District Community.
One of the future intentions of the programme, he related, is to cater for secondary school students with similar academic needs. He expected that this would start within a month's time.
The programme will be housed at the Abraham Leonard Community Centre weekly on Monday to Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and will officially begin on Tuesday, January 21, 2014.
Registration began yesterday and will be ongoing up until a week after the programme begins.
According to Hon. Fahie, there will be a transportation service attached to the programme which will be solely responsible to transport the First District youth from the homework programme to the closest area on the public road to their homes in the First District only where the parents are expected to meet them.
The intention of the programme, he explained, is to meet the academic and to a large extent, social needs of First District youth. “The programme is intended solely for those children who are weak in a particular subject area or in multiple subject areas,” Hon. Fahie related.
According to the former Education Minister, the community must work 'hand in glove' in order for the programme to hit its target. He added that although some teething problems were expected in the initial stages, these will be ironed out.
He told residents that the programme would be starting with three tutors, however, he expected that the number of tutors would be increased based on the number of youths that enrol in the programme.
Hon. Fahie cautioned, “It is of great importance for the survival of the programme to have the right ratio of students to each tutor so that the students can receive maximum benefits from the programme.”
The programme, he further explained, is expected to complement the work of schools, parents and other non-governmental agencies in the First District community.
In addition, he said it is intended for the programme to be eventually turned over to an appropriate non-governmental organization whose origin is in the First District Community so that the First District Community can ultimately take full ownership of it.
Concept behind the programme
The First District Representative explained that over the course of last year, a few parents in the First District contacted him on a regular basis stating that they recognized that their children needed help in a specific subject area but due to financial challenges, they could not afford the needed tutorial help for their children.
Some parents, he said, explained that due to their work schedule it was difficult for them to give the help that their child needed with their homework and studies.
“At the end of the day no matter the reason(s), as a community we must be our brother’s keeper. Together, we must exhaust all efforts to save our youth from heading in the wrong direction due to poor academic performances that could have been addressed had someone taken the time to attempt to do so.”
He added, “Together we can shift our youth from getting involved in actions that would lead them towards the jail yard and or the graveyard to a positive mindset that helps our youth to realize that all their dreams can come true once they have the courage to pursue them.”
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