"Taonga Market" Radio School
With approximately 80% of children unable to attend school in some areas, the educational programmes that the station transmits (in conjunction with the Ministry of Education) have become very popular. Those who attend the “Taonga Market” (the name for the radio school) are usually children that are unable to walk the long distances to formal schools (sometimes a 50 km round trip!) or carry the load of being farmers despite their young age. In such cases the locals have set up “Radio schools”. These schools use battery-less wind up radios and are run by local volunteer teachers, called mentors.There are 63 mentors across the 21 outstations of Chikuni parish. The mentors help the children to follow the educational programmes/classes that are broadcast daily on the radio as well as doing exercises and drills before and after the broadcast. Children have achieved some excellent results with many children getting top places in the National School Tests. With such a simple set up, Taonga Market offers children a full education up to grade seven, whilst ensuring that they are able to remain an active part of their tight knit farming communities. There are now 43 classes, with over 2,500 pupils.
With approximately 80% of children unable to attend school in some areas, the educational programmes that the station transmits (in conjunction with the Ministry of Education) have become very popular. Those who attend the “Taonga Market” (the name for the radio school) are usually children that are unable to walk the long distances to formal schools (sometimes a 50 km round trip!) or carry the load of being farmers despite their young age. In such cases the locals have set up “Radio schools”. These schools use battery-less wind up radios and are run by local volunteer teachers, called mentors.There are 63 mentors across the 21 outstations of Chikuni parish. The mentors help the children to follow the educational programmes/classes that are broadcast daily on the radio as well as doing exercises and drills before and after the broadcast. Children have achieved some excellent results with many children getting top places in the National School Tests. With such a simple set up, Taonga Market offers children a full education up to grade seven, whilst ensuring that they are able to remain an active part of their tight knit farming communities. There are now 43 classes, with over 2,500 pupils.
Taonga Market Gardens
As part of the Taonga Market programme many agro-forestry gardens have also been set up in a number of centres. These gardens provide an excellent way for the children to learn new skills from an organic and sustaineable perspective which can and has been applied to their home lives. The gardens help provide an balanced diet for the children and any surplus can be sold either fresh or as (solar)dried fruit & vegetables.
The gardens produce all sorts of fruit and vegetables such as Guava, Pumpkin, Banana, Mango, Papaya, Orange, Cabbage, Onion, Carrot, Moringa, Chilli and Tomatoes
Monitoring
As with any educational institution, monitoring needs to be performed regularly throughout the year and Taonga Market is no exception. There are two fulltime employees who spend the vast majority of their time out in the field making sure that everything is running smoothly and that both the classes and gardens are being run properly. This ensures a very high standard of learning and yield from the gardens. As you might imagine, many of these schools are in very remote areas and so pushbikes or motorbikes are used for access. Please CLICK HERE to like the Chikuni Parish Taonga Facebook Page
As part of the Taonga Market programme many agro-forestry gardens have also been set up in a number of centres. These gardens provide an excellent way for the children to learn new skills from an organic and sustaineable perspective which can and has been applied to their home lives. The gardens help provide an balanced diet for the children and any surplus can be sold either fresh or as (solar)dried fruit & vegetables.
The gardens produce all sorts of fruit and vegetables such as Guava, Pumpkin, Banana, Mango, Papaya, Orange, Cabbage, Onion, Carrot, Moringa, Chilli and Tomatoes
Monitoring
As with any educational institution, monitoring needs to be performed regularly throughout the year and Taonga Market is no exception. There are two fulltime employees who spend the vast majority of their time out in the field making sure that everything is running smoothly and that both the classes and gardens are being run properly. This ensures a very high standard of learning and yield from the gardens. As you might imagine, many of these schools are in very remote areas and so pushbikes or motorbikes are used for access. Please CLICK HERE to like the Chikuni Parish Taonga Facebook Page
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