English is on the up!

During Della and Don's most recent trip to Sri Lanka in February, they noticed that the lack of a good English teacher at the village school was causing a huge problem, since speaking English opens up so many doors for children in Sri Lanka. 


However, they managed to enlist the help of the principal's daughter as an extra teacher for the time being, and hopefully a permanent English teacher will be found soon. She seems to be doing a wonderful job and she's extremely enthusiastic and dedicated to the childrens' education.


Below is an extract from a letter that the teacher wrote, expressing her thanks: 

'The first few weeks i did only speech and songs with the children; but later i had to follow the text book because they had to be prepared for the government exam. I think i have won the love of children, they long for my lessons, and come to fetch me to their class. This has been an encouragement to me.At the exam there were at least a few in every class who had obtained more than 50 marks.At the Wednesday assembly all the children join in an English song. Three children....are been trained to speak in English at the assembly. A translation of what is said in Sinhalese'

In other news, several students from the village school took part in a general knowledge contest and three of them were so successful that they've been selected to take part in the next round. 
And to top it off, there is a new science teacher who now comes to teach at the school 3 times a week, which be hugely beneficial for the children.


These may only sound like small things, but they make a huge difference to the kids at the school and help to create a better and more stable learning environment for them.