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LIFE&FAMILY
150
July14
Beyond the glittering resorts and carefree tourist laughter is
Bali’s flipside, where people live on $2 a day, struggling to eat,
let alone get an education. Four teachers from Singapore’s
Stamford American International School (Stamford) recently
volunteered their school holidays to support local teachers at
a new preschool in the island’s northeast.
W
ith their mothers now
employed at the plant
of East Bali Cashews in
jobs that just a few years
back they could only have dreamt of,
60 preschoolers in the village of Desa
Ban have got stuck into learning. Before
AnaKardia Kids Early Learning Center
opened in April for children aged two
to six years, there were no education
opportunities in the area for this age
group. The preschool fulfils two aims:
to care for the children while their
mothers work, and to provide them with
a valuable education.
“It’s staffed by 10 local teachers
who will prepare the preschoolers
for entrance into public school,” said
Alexandra Cleary, one of the four
Stamford teachers on the trip. “Before
the centre opened, these children had
no prospect of preschool education.”
“The response from villagers has
been overwhelming,” adds teacher
Jillian Smith. “They see the benefit and
value of giving the children education
at an early age; most kids in Bali don’t
actually start school until the age of
seven (and unfortunately a large majority
don’t finish). The school motto is ‘Happy,
Healthy, Smart’, which truly symbolises
how they feel.”
During their visit, the Stamford
teachers planned inquiry, play-based
lessons using reusable materials that
local teachers can easily replicate. “We
aimed to make lesson plans sustainable
for the school and tried to create lessons
using materials that can be found
nearby,” said teacher Amy McClellan.
“We’ve been using bottle tops and
reusable materials that can be used as
a resource not just in AnaKardia Kids but
also in other village schools. We want to
make education accessible and show
that learning can be fun.”
The teachers also took educational
supplies, including crayons and a train
set donated by the Stamford community,
and are committed to the ongoing
collection of donations.
Two of the teachers at AnaKardia
Kids also work at the village public
school during the mornings, while the