An early meeting

May 17th, 2012 Sections: Education, Life In Kyrgyzstan, News

The European School

I had an interesting meeting on Tuesday morning … and I think I can forgive the organizers for dragging me out of the office for an 08:30 start.  Although I am normally in the office by about 06:00am, I am normally on my own don’t have to worry about encountering other people for several hours; meetings don’t usually start before 09:00.

However, because this one wasn’t in my office, it was at the European School, I had to get myself organized and ready to face the world a little earlier than usual.  At least the trip to the school went against the flow of traffic and I was there in plenty of time, but I feel; sorry for my driver who then had to sit in the traffic jams on the way back to the office having dropped me off.

I think they had realized that some people might have difficulty with a meeting getting underway before  the start of the normal working day, but it did make sense for them in that the school day starts at that time and they laid on a light buffet “breakfast” which also had the advantage of allowing people to circulate and introduce themselves to each other before the real business got underway.

Although the school was established a year ago, it only opened its doors in September.  People usually don’t think about the fact that schools work on an annual timetable.  Classes start in September, although children may enroll at any time in the year.  Well, back in September they had just 18 pupils registered, but the number currently enrolled has already more than doubled and now stands at 42.  That’s a little short of the planned target for next year, (of somewhere between 80 and 100 pupils), so there is still some way for them to go, but the number of confirmed enrollments registered for September already stands at 61.   The youngest of the pupils, in the Preschool group are just 2 years old, and the oldest are in what is called Year 6 in the British system – that is about 10 years old.

What’s more, although many of the pupils come from the families of ex-pats, there are a  number of children from local families, including the holder of the school’s first scholarship.

 

The founders of the school included a number of ex-pats looking for an education for their children which would make it easier for them to transfer to another school if and when they accepted a new post somewhere else in the world.  As a result the school follows the basic National Curriculum of England and Wales, because that provides a model which is used by many “international schools” around the world.  In addition they are aiming to become an international school offering the International Baccalaureate, (IB), but that takes time to receive the accreditation and in the meantime they are preparing for the Cambridge IPC (International Primary Certificate) which eventually leads to the IGCSE, (International General Certificate of Secondary Education).

In addition to the formal lessons the school organizes a wide range of extra curricular activities and excursions such as: Swimming, Tennis, Football, Rock Climbing, Skiing, Dance, Music, Art, Drama and Origami.

At the moment there are just seven teaching staff, but in September that will rise to 15.  That’s not a bad pupil-teacher ratio.    We went on a short around the school which was interesting, very clean and bright, and although I am don’t think that we saw all 42 of the children, they were all quiet, attentive and very involved in the activities they were doing – including a lesson on decimals.

Of course, establishing a school like this is not without challenges, and Rob Bruce, the Principal, took us through some of these as he saw them.

The first concerned the premises.  Although they have been fortunate to find a building, (once a kindergarten – so reasonably well suited to the purpose), it was in need of renovation, especially if the school is going to be able to expand in the future.  Additional classroom space is going to be needed and that will include some specialist accommodation in order to deliver some subjects such as the sciences.  The grounds also need some work to include play and learning areas.  However, much of that work is already underway and there are plans to add additional floors to the building to provide classroom space for Key stages 3 and 4.

With increased numbers, there will be a need for increased and improved facilities, more resources and more dedicated and specialist teachers, especially in order to maintain standards, the quality of education and achieve accreditation.  Then, of course, there is also the need to become an accepted member of the local community and contribute to the more general provision of education in the country.  As well as the scholarships, it is hoped to be able to introduce Kyrgyz language as a subject for accreditation, for example in the IB.

None of this is, of course cheap, and the fees are quite steep – hence the scholarship and the school’s arrangements for “corporate membership” – where considerable discounts are offered where several children are enrolled from one “organization”, (although this is only available for Kyrgyz citizens – something which I understand but, still, makes me feel a little uneasy).

When asked why the fees are so high, it has to be pointed out that it is a new venture, without the backing of an large charity of endowment fund which many private schools in the West have to support them.  However, the school has taken a step towards correcting this by establishing the Kelechek Fund, (Keleckek is the Kyrgyz for Future).  I wish them luck with that.

Perhaps the best part of the meeting was when some of the children came to give us a selection of numbers from the school musical which was being staged this week: The Wizard of Oz – as well as a number of Kyrgyz folk songs.  One of those in the meeting decided to tweet about it and when I got back to the office I found this on twitter:

The Russian says “How Sweet … and what a voice!”

 

 

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