Distribution of Solar Lamps to high achieving students in rural areas
Access to electricity is still a huge challenge for many young learners in Togo. A lots of outstanding students in remote areas fail to do their homework due to the lack of light at night. This has a great impact on their studies. To help solve this problem, EDULCOD Togo distributed some few solar lamps to outstanding students coming from underserved communities in northern Togo. These few lamps were generously donated to us through Books For Africa that we would like to thank here. Bringing the solar powered book lights to kids from these areas will give them an opportunity to learn their lessons, do their homework and improve their academic performance. These few solar lamps distributed are very far from solving the problem. We hope some more generous people will reach out to support this project.
Books distribution to a local orphanage in Kara
A book can change the life of a kid forever. When kids read, their minds open to a new world and they can reflect on themselves, think about their community development and prepare their future. To help kids of the orphanage MEHI in Kara have access to reading resources, EDULCOD Togo donated reading books and games. Kids were thrilled to get books for reading.
Socratic Seminar
In the field of education, very few strategies have caught on around the globe quite like Socratic Seminars. This interactive learning strategy pushes the students into the driver’s seat, and allows them to take charge of their own learning. The basic idea behind Socratic seminars, is that the teacher is not all and all when it comes to the classroom, and by seceding power in the classroom to the student, we allow them to flourish in ways they wouldn’t.
How it works is a teacher presents the students with information, this can come in the form of an article, or a video, or something as simple as a quote. The key is that the information is controversial enough that it prompts discussions. That is because the students have to write open ended discussion questions based on the information provided. These questions should not lead to one word answers, and in a perfect world they should lead to a long branching discussion. Once the questions are written, the discussion begins. As a teacher, this is where you sit back and watch as the students ask questions in a large group setting. This can prompt some challenges so it is important to establish rules to dictate the discussion beforehand. Besides monitoring the rules, the teacher also helps facilitate the discussion if things die down. They also monitor participation and actively encourage different students to talk. At the end, you bring all the students together and allow the students to give their final thoughts. You then wrap up your lesson, and it is done.
The benefits of this exercise are many, but one of the most important is how it forces students to think critically about a subject matter, and then use that critical thinking to form their own opinions. Too often we expect students to simply memorize information, but the exercise alleviates that pressure, and instead gives students a forum where they can express themselves. An opportunity they are not often given.
That is what makes this short, and easy, activity so effective. One does not need technology to accomplish a good Socratic seminar, they just need students who are ready and willing to speak their mind, and a teacher who is ready to give up a little power to benefit the students.
Our first Socratic Seminar attracted around one hundred students who formed small groups for effective activities. These activity created a great emulation among learners who learned a lot from one another.
Equipping Libraries and Schools in Togo with reading books
EDULCOD Togo and AJA Togo two organizations collaborated to bring in Togo a container from Books For Africa full of twenty two thousand books (half French, half English) to equip libraries and schools in Togo to boost education by helping students mainly those in rural areas to have access to a reading resource.
The launching ceremony of the distribution of these books was held yesterday, March 3, 2020, at College Don Bosco de Kara. Political, administrative, religious, and traditional authorities, librarians, students, and friends enjoyed attending this successful and unique event. We were honored to see among us Col. BAKALI, the Prefect of Kozah prefecture who clearly described how this Books Project will impact the lives of students, all readers and how this is contributing to the development of our country Togo. The Prefect and all the beneficiaries expressed their gratitude to #BooksforAfrica, to #EDULCODTogo, #AJATogo for having initiated this project and wished to see more similar projects in the future. We will never thank enough #BFA team for their invaluable support. Lots of thanks to all of you who contributed to the success of this project. The books will be distributed in all the regions of Togo. There is still a need for books to serve other areas, resources to build new libraries, make shelves and we are open to any suggestion. We believe that if kids have access to books and read them, it will change their lives and they will perform well at school.
