More about the Dzga Learning Support from www.mandaras.info

a growing need

Dzga Learning Support (now Dzga Primary School) developed from a growing need for education in a rural hillside area where regular schooling has not been possible for a number of reasons. Dzga Valley lies in the Gwoza Hills, in the northernmost part of Nigeria, bordering the Mandara Mountains and the international boundary with Cameroon. The hills are densely populated but the inaccessibility of Dzga means that even now, when transmigration for economic reasons takes people downhill more and more frequently, the needs of the children, as in many other rural areas of Nigeria, have until recently been forgotten. The Dughwede children have many complex traditional skills which they apply in their every day lives as part of a family working group. On my first visit to Dzga the children had started to join me under the mahogany tree outside my house to make their first marks on paper, a very new and exciting experience. It was clear to me on my second visit in 1998 that they wanted their skills to include some form of basic literacy and numeracy.

developing the Learning Support

The Learning Support began as a voluntary project which was non-denominational and open to children of all ages, girls and boys being given equal opportunities. The community of Dzga held a meeting with me in which they expressed desires for their children to acquire functional literacy skills, especially since so many of them would inevitably experience life outside the mountains at some time in the future. The montagnards had maintained a suspicion about anyone outside the hills but were now experiencing a greater need to understand legal documents and notices. It was agreed that children would only attend with the consent of their parents and that the support would run alongside farming and other family duties. For example, there would be much more time for learning during the dry season. Two children by-passed the state primary system by succeeding at tests set for secondary entrance. This greatly enhanced the status of the Learning Support. With numbers rising now from 40+ to 300+ this posed some logistical problems, not only for the teacher, but also for me as the fundraiser and organiser.
 In  July 2000, the Local Education Department of Gwoza heard about the project declaring it illegal but finally, in November 2000, after some discussion and correspondence, agreed both to complete the building and finance the teacher, making him the headmaster of the now Dzga Primary School.

the teachers

The head teacher is a local man who educated himself as an adult to degree level with great determination and sacrifice. As an English speaker, he was able to apply a very basic curriculum in English, which is the national language, used for all forms of education. I constructed a curriculum whilst there in 1998 using the environment as a basic stimulus for language development drawing on my skills as a teacher of children in London who had come directly from rural areas of Bangladesh. This curriculum was used until the government took over the running of the school. John, the headteacher informs us that the school still maintains the philosophy we originally agreed upon. He has now been given an assistant teacher and together they now follow the government syllabus but have very few textbooks available unless children can afford to hire their own. No other materials are provided. I was concerned that the parents might now feel under pressure to send their children to school whereas before it had been a support system for those who wished it. However, I am informed that the community feels very happy with the new status of the school and welcome its success. 

fundraising 

When it started it was estimated that the project could run for some time on a small scale from donations, fundraising slideshows and talks to schools. I made photo/text books and materials based on life in Dzga and the stories I was told. Children from Caldy Island School, South Wales, itself remote and now no longer functioning, made some counting books to send. The project has survived now for three years on donations from committed friends, family and colleagues, some who thought of their own fund-raising projects to help provide the land and materials for building the walls of a school room.  The parents and community members supplied the stones and the labour and were very keen to co-operate. The education authority completed the roof and the school now has two rooms and overlooks the Mandara mountains and Cameroon. So, we have now reached a level where it no longer requires funds to pay the teachers or the building work. The entire project has been funded for three years with the total sum of just £3, 508!

continuity

The remoteness of Dzga still means that communication is difficult and reliable package and posting very expensive. However, we do have two e-mail destination points in Gwoza and Maiduguri and eventually we send and receive news via colleagues who pass it on. Dzga Learning Support still has an important role to play at this stage and this was discussed during Gerhard’s most recent visit. More consumable materials are needed, such as the pencils, exercise books, blackboards and footballs. Textbooks are not provided so the hiring of these will also be a major part of our donation. All these things are unaffordable for the most of the people of Dzga. We have committed to sending a sum of money each year (which is to be looked after by a colleague in Gwoza and distributed as and when needed) which was estimated would provide enough materials for the very large number of children who now attend the school. We will keep the Friends of Dzga informed by regular newsletters. 

future ideas 

We continue to make contact with the local education authority and hope that now, with the changes in government, improved salaries for teachers and local awareness of the growing need for basic education, that they might consider re-opening the derelict schools, remaining from earlier initiatives in other parts of the neighbouring hillsides, two of which I visited on treks. We hope in the future to possibly fund some of the older children, and particularly any girls who might have the chance, when they go on to secondary school. I would also like to create some very basic story/word books using dual language, both English and Dughwede. We are even considering, at a future date, raising the profile of the school by enlisting some teachers from England who might make a two or three week trip to Dzga to share experiences and skills. This could prove to be an profitable educational exercise for all involved.

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