Children’s Institutions in Azerbaijan a situation Analysis By United Aid For Azerbaijan September 2000 Any information used from this report must be accredited accordingly to uafa. Table of Contents
Level of Literacy – how many achieve
Download 1.08 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- Are languages taught
- Provision for theatre/fine art/music/sport
- Provision for living skills training
Level of Literacy – how many achieveThis was a very difficult question to check because no institution wants to appear to be under-performing. To gain a truer picture of how literate these children are, a separate survey would need to be performed. We were able to ask a few children to read and write for us and do basic arithmetic and we found from these simple tests that children were literate as stated. In institutions for children with special needs, however, this was not the case as education is so minimal. Of this group of children, the ones we spoke to could not add up 2 + 2, tell the time or give us their correct age. Are languages taughtMost institutions teach in Azeri. The following table lists which languages are taught.
Provision for theatre/fine art/music/sportAgain, the lack of resources makes provision of the arts very difficult. Sometimes, trips to the theatre or circus are organised at times of national holidays. In most cases, children only get the opportunity for visits when donor organisations arrange them. We have seen some very fine examples of artistic talent during our survey, notably at No.2 and No.23. For a child with special needs, art is a form of therapy, one of the few ways these children have to express themselves but, again, the main problem is a lack of paints and paper. Music, too, relies on access to instruments and radio/cassette players which most institutions lack. In general, children are taught to sing and recite and this is the extent of music provision. Sport also suffers from the lack of resources. During morning assembly, we have observed stretching exercises and light athletics. In addition to board games, this is the extent of sporting facilities. Consequently, sports programmes are few and far between. Most institutions have a sports hall, some ground and a sports teacher but no equipment or sports wear. During Soviet times, there was an active inter-institution league of games but this has all but stopped and the opportunities to meet other children have diminished. In particular, those who really suffer are the children with disabilities who have even less opportunity to be active. UAFA now runs a sports programme at Institution No.2 for all children of mixed abilities. We have provided equipment and sports clothes and visit twice per week to assist the sports teacher. One day per week is devoted to those children with disabilities, to encourage them to play and move around. In the first week, the children without disabilities showed surprise when we started to dress the children with disabilities for sport and could not understand why we would want to play with them because the general attitude is that ‘they can’t do anything’. On the contrary, the children with disabilities revelled in the attention and have shown great signs of improvement in their mobility in the subsequent weeks. It is a programme that is easy to replicate and can be developed in the long-term to encourage more interaction between children from different institutions and local schools. The lack of transport especially hinders competitive sports and day trips. A few institutions have their own minibus but most have no access to a vehicle and must depend upon donors for support. Provision for living skills trainingLiving skills training is again a throwback to the former Soviet system when institutionalised children were guaranteed a job in a factory upon leaving. Children have a certain amount of labour lessons each week where they invariably learn carpentry (for boys), sewing and carpet-making (for girls). In rare cases do the roles interchange. At No.27, the roles reverse because there is no female teacher so the girls learn carpentry and electronics alongside the boys. Those institutions catering for children with neurological problems are especially dependent upon labour lessons as a way of giving the children some stimulation. By Government standards, they must have 12 hours per week of these lessons yet the biggest problem is the scarcity of materials for the activities. There is some potential for income-generating activities using these skills, as a number of directors have suggested. Investment, however, would be needed to buy the materials necessary to supply a market with enough products to make the venture worthwhile. Little attention is given to training in skills more applicable to a modern environment. Only one institution, No.12, has access to computers. They have been donated 2 computers which the children use 3 times per week. We did question whether this actually happened because there appeared to be no teacher with the necessary skills to teach IT and we felt that the room was used more as a showroom, to give visitors the impression that the children have a variety of opportunities and recreational activities. Directory: downloads downloads -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations downloads -> Dynatest 3031 lwd light Weight Deflectometer downloads -> Forth coming competitive exams downloads -> Brush High School Morning Announcements Friday, September 05, 2014 all school downloads -> Year 9 The Arts — Music downloads -> Years 7 and 8 standard elaborations — Australian Curriculum: Music draft downloads -> Chris Young sets 2016 “I’m Comin’ Over” Tour headlining dates downloads -> Slavery and Abolition: the Plymouth Connection Introduction downloads -> Summer Assignment Download 1.08 Mb. Share with your friends:
|