1 st pilot of testing tools (Day 1) in EPC school of village Nacurare, district Murrupla, Nampula, Mozambique
Today is the 1st day of the 1st pilot of the testing tools. We are going to a couple of schools in a neighbouring district of Murrupula. The group is divided into 2. Group 1: Armando, Isidine, Lino and me. Group 2: Matilde, Amelia, Bene and Faridah. 6 samples of the testing tools have been hurriedly printed and packed. Each group will test about 20 children. 5 each from Std. 2 to 5.
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We skip lunch and start for Murrupula at 1 pm. Murrupula is about 80 kms away from Nampula and is situated in the South-West of Nampula, on the main trunk route to the capital Maputo. Maputo is just over 2,000 kms away from Nampula. It takes about 2 hours by flight, which can be a bit erratic, as I find out on my way out or a 2 day bus ride! Mozambique shares border with 6 countries. South Africa and Swaziland in the South; Zimbabwe and Zambia in the West; Malawi in North West and Tanzania in the North.
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The road to Marrupula, which is the main highway to Maputo, is 2 way and passes through fairly dense forests and occasional agricultural land, usually around a habitation. The entire stretch looks very fertile and has many hillocks. The traffic slows down crossing every habitation. The police check points may also be the cause for this. Not much traffic though. We stop at the main market of Marrupula, at about 2.30 pm, to wait for the second group and buy water. The 2nd group reaches in 10 minutes and heads for village Tiponha
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We enter Nacurare village, situated to the left of the highway. The 1st thing that strikes me about this village is the similarity with our own villages in Santhal Parganas, particularly Birbhum. The thatched houses, the red soiled roads, and the trees. Mango, palm and banana. No ponds though. It is almost spring time in Mozambique, after all we are in the southern hemisphere and mango flowers are in full bloom, soon they will bear fruit.
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We reach the village primary school. It is an EPC –Escola Primaria Completa, that means this is a composite school, from Std 1 to 7. (EP-1 schools are from Std 1 to 5 and EP-2 schools are from Std 6 to 7). The school works in 3 shifts of 4 hours. In the 1 st shift only the Std 1 children are taught. In the 2nd shift children from Std 2 to 5 are taught. And, in the last shift Std 6 and 7. Multi-shift schools are very common in Mozambique, to make better use of school infrastructure, but this also reduces the daily instructional hours.
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Armando takes the lead to introduce our group to the authorities. Schools in Mozambique are headed by a Director, who has a Deputy Director (Director Adjunto Pedagogico) and a Chief Secretary (Chefe de Secretaria) to assist in the running of the school. The Director and the Director Adjunto Pedagogico are away. We meet the Chefe de Secretaria, a lady, who grants us permission to test the children
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The Chefe de Secretaria leads us to the Std 2 classroom. About 30 children are present today. Armando explains the purpose of our visit to the children and seeks volunteers who could be tested. The children are a bit confused. We select 3.
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We draw the 3 to a secluded spot of the school, where all could be comfortably seated. Antonia, Pelto and Belmiro will be the 1st three children to be tested in Mozambique. The children seemed resigned to their fate!
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A historic moment – the first 3 children to be assessed in Mozambique
Today we will administer all 6 samples of reading (leitura) and mathematics (numeracia) on each children. The reading test has 5 levels and mathematics, 8 levels. Sara and Joyce, earlier visited Mozambique in May, to meet the education officials of Mozambique. They reviewed the text books and learning goals and created the framework for creating the testing tools. The 6 samples each, of the testing tools have been created according to the framework.
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The way the samples will be administered is, we will start with sample no 1 of both reading and mathematics and see upto what level each child can read or compute the mathematics problem. We will then test each children only on the highest level attained, employing the rest of the 5 samples. We will also note down words and mathematics problem that they are unable to read and solve.
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The children of Std 4 are equally bewildered with Armando’s announcement seeking volunteers to be tested
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We are quite surprised to find children of varied age in Std 4. For instance Belito is 11 years of age and Matteo, who also looks the same, but is actually 16 years. Our progress is rather slow. It is almost taking at least 30 minutes per child to administer the 6 samples.
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It is just 5.30 pm but pretty dark. We have just done 10 children and are well short of our target of 20 children. Time to leave. We will return tomorrow.
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