Games & Cultural activites

EDS arranges activities such as cultural programmes, movie nights, picnic and sports (football, cricket and badminton) to motivate the children to study. EDS also uses games for educational purpose, like to divide the children in groups and make a competition where the aim is to be the fastest group to find certain countries on the world map.

Study pairs & study groups

EDS seeks to develop the students' abilities to explain, disuss and work in teams. The older students are in pairs with the younger, where the older teach the younger. The pair showing the best development of the month receives a small gift (paper or pen) so it is thus in the interest of the older student to teach properly and of the younger to study well and learn.

In the evenings the students participate in study groups, which are held in the students' homes and led by an older student.

Honour & positive feedback

The students showing good academic or behavioural development receive a small gift (schoolbook, pen or paper) to motivate them to further develop and other students to follow their examples.

EDS honours students in categories such as:

Best academic development
Most helpful
Most cooperative
The student whom the younger students perceive as their best teacher
the best study pairs
best dancer/singer/performer during the cultural program
The best football/cricket player

Parent meeting & home visits

EDS has regular parent meetings and the field coordinator visits the children and parents homes to discuss the children's development. Most of the parents work in factories or drive rickshaws. They have nearly no time for their children and often beat them even for small mistakes.

EDS motivates the parents about education and to guide their children to good behaviour instead of using physical punishment. EDS also motivates the parents to let their daughters study and not marry them off at young ages. If the children study well they can achieve good jobs, and thereby help their entire family to an improved livelihood.

More information for parents

Learning methods at EDS

Both students and parents are important for the students' education, thus EDS works closely with both parties. EDS seeks to develop the children's educational, social and ethical skills. To achieve this we use action learning and a holistic approach where we:

Create a good learning environment
Use various motivation methods
Use vegetable garden and pisciculture in the teaching
motivate the EDS participants and their parents to be responsible and adhere to the EDS rules
closely follow up the EDS participants and their parents
continuously seek feedback from the EDS participants and their parents
involve the community at large
develop international relatons

Good learning environment

When Hafiz started to teach the children in Moheswarpasha he tried to understand their psycology by spending the entire day with them and letting them do the activities they preferred. If the children did anything wrong he never got angry, but educated them to improve their behaviour. By spending time with the children, listen to them and never threat or get angry at them the children developed trust in Hafiz.

Children learn better when they trust, feel respected by and do not fear the educators. We create a good learning environment where the children:

feel safe (we do not accept physical/psycological punishment)
feel respected by the teachers
feel free to ask questions and discuss with the teachers
feel that the teachers are their friends and learning is FUN!

Vegetable garden and pisciculture

EDS has a small vegetable garden and pisciculture where the EDS students learn by doing. They learn to produce food in sustainable ways, to take responsibility and collaborate with others. This practical and fun work motivates them for learning and creates social relations between them and the teachers. The produce is divided between the EDS students and adds much needed nutrients to their diet.

Motivation

What we do.