The School Structure and Curriculum
Ephphatha School is using the same curriculum as any government primary school, namely from P1 to P6 French and Arithmetic are taught and from P3 children start learning Kirundi. There is a pre-school class for new children between the ages of 5 and 7, who are all drawn from different parts of the country and use different gestures and signs, and so need to be introduced to sign language as well as to arithmetic.
There are 6 classrooms, one for each grade P1 to P6 as well as one for preschool and 2 vocational training classrooms. The teaching staff team comprises 9 teachers (6 primary teachers), the head teacher and 2 house parents. Currently Grades P5 and P6 are taught by one teacher and the preschool class has been allocated a dedicated teacher. Two of the teachers are also the vocational trainers. The support workers include a secretary, 2 cooks, 3 workers for the egg production unit and 1 watchman. The new school year starts in mid January with 4 weeks Easter vacation in April/May and another 4 weeks holiday from mid August to mid September. The school breaks up for Christmas in mid December. In August–September 2011 all children returned home though some were not too keen to go as the diet in school is so much better. Teachers have observed that some children return to school much thinner than when they left as some of the families are poor and cannot afford as good a diet as the school. Ephphatha is a residential school and its dormitories have spaces for 52 boys and 48 girls. A further 20 children (10 boys and 10 girls) attend daily from their homes nearby. The school has fostered a tradition whereby the older children help the younger ones as the children are expected to wash and dry their own clothes. It is a fee paying school which costs 15,000 BIF per term. Parents are also asked to provide adequate clothing and supply items for daily use such as soap and toothpaste, as well as pay for the school uniforms at the beginning of the new school year. The school has set up a small income generation scheme raising hens to lay eggs which are sold to augment the school’s income and children’s diet. Recently some goats have been added to the scheme. After level 6, children rarely progress to secondary school because there are no secondary schools to teach deaf children in the country. Some very bright and determined children do go to government or private secondary schools but it is a huge challenge for them as they have to learn alongside their hearing peers and staff in these schools are not trained to teach deaf children. Six past ex-pupils of Ephphatha School have gone to university and 5 of them have graduated. A further 3 students are currently studying in an Indian university and are soon to be joined by 3 other pupils who completed their primary education at Ephphatha. |