I love books. I like to be gripped by a crime thriller, to read into a new subject, to look up something in a lexicon or to delve into a novel. Books are a source of inspiration and education. In Uganda, there is hardly a school without its own library. However, these are used to store textbooks and entire class sets of school books. The rooms can also be used by the students to learn in free hours. Other books, such as novels, lexicons, specialist books or even magazines, are extremely rare. (In the last 10 schools I visited, there was only once.) The need for books has been urgently needed since the new curriculum, which was introduced two years ago in secondary school, at the latest. Since then, students have increasingly been able to complete research tasks in class or work out topics in projects independently.
Bibliothek einer Sekundarschule
All the more beautiful that there is a small library not far from our home. Neighbors of ours open their garden every weekend, offer drinks and delicious burgers as a community kitchen and run a small library with almost 1000 books. Only gradually did I understand what else is behind it. Under the name PrimaryColoursABC, they collect and sort digital resources that are suitable for children and adolescents and make them available to people from the area. At the same time, they support organizations such as the CoRSU Children's Hospital with digital resources and the necessary hardware and support.
Eating burgers for a good cause in the Community Kitchen
The idea of using this expertise and rich experience in schools was not long in coming. Yesterday the time had come and we were able to take the first step towards implementation. Together with James, the man behind PrimaryColoursABC, I attended a secondary school to discuss ideas on how to best use digital media such as books, audiobooks, learning materials, films with the existing resources and spaces to improve the educational offer at the school.
Headteacher Miss Dinah and James from PrimaryColoursABC
Here are a few of the ideas we would like to implement in the coming weeks:
If the existing projector and a screen are installed in the library, teachers can come to the library with their class to watch a documentary or a literary film adaptation or to practice digital presentations.
The preparation room in the library will soon have a PC with a printer and, above all, a lot of digital materials that can help teachers with research and lesson preparation.
In the computer room, students can do research and read digital books, even if the Internet does not really work again.
Until these ideas are actually used by teachers in class, it will probably take some time and also need a few more training courses. But then this could become a role model for many other schools.
