Dumela Botswana! Learn to Play

This month's entry takes us to the capital of Botswana - Gaborone and beyond! I'm delighted to introduce you to the Learn to Play programme which represents a preschool story in sub-Saharan Africa that I have kept an eye on for over 18 months. What attracted me to programme was its resilient social impact, a system crafted by Priyanka Handa Ram .

A little background - Botswana is in southern Africa with an area of 581, 730 square kilometres, the equivalent of 81, 372 football/soccer fields; about the size of France or Kenya.

Oh yes, before you start reading, 'Dumela' has it's origins in Bantu and in Setswana means hello.

Introduction

Priyanka Handa Ram is the Managing Director and founder of Little Einsteins and the Learn to Play programme.?

Little Einsteins is a private early childhood programme in Gaborone, Botswana, established in 2014. It operates as a fee-paying preschool for parents who value high-quality education.

Priyanka sees both entities (Little Einsteins and Learn to Play) as one and works within a revenue generation model; a social impact business model. The unique model means that fees from Little Einsteins fully support and enable the accessible Learn to Play programme, offered free to children in low/no-income communities in Botswana.??

Parents in the Little Einsteins community are happy to support families in Learn to Play.

Both organisations have distinct, yet separate, brands. One provides free access, and the other caters to the needs of higher-income bracket parents. The Learn to Play program is 100% free for children and meets the educational needs of families within the lowest income bracket, earning less than USD2 a day. It also serves refugee camps and the indigenous Bushmen community with a traditionally nomadic culture.

In urban areas some parents on low incomes have jobs, but cannot afford to pay the fees for a preschool. They may contribute in other (non-financial) ways to the successful operation of the preschool. For example, donating food from their farms.?

Curriculum

The curriculum of Little Einsteins and Learn to Play is based on the Rainbow Play Approach, created by Priyanka and a colleague, Caroline Gartland.?

“It is a framework for holistic early childhood development, where play is a fundamental element in all areas of learning, wellbeing and development.”?

Six key learning areas of development:

• Creative thinking
• Social and emotional development
• Fine motor development and sensory integration
• Early literacy and communication
• Gross motor development
• Cognitive development?

Priyanka and Caroline identified a gap in existing curricula for young learners and found that they did not incorporate enough creativity and curiosity. They noted that it was important for fine and gross motor skill development to be separated rather than treated as a single area of development.?

The framework has six core components taught on equal footing. One area of learning is not more important than the other.

The Image of the framework is colour-coded. Each part represents one area of development. Priyanka explained that they’re all interconnected and when learning through play, children are often developing in multiple ways simultaneously.?

The Rainbow framework has been extended to include professional development and training, developed with the framework as a foundation.

There are currently over 47 children at Little Einsteins with four teachers and four assistants, plus ancillary staff. It offers a boutique nursery experience.?

The Learn to Play Programme and Mamapreneurs

When I first heard the term 'mamapreneurs' I thought it was so apt for the context. The image below says it all.

In the community, Learn to Play also follows the Rainbow framework. Mothers are selected from the community and trained as ‘mamapreneurs’.?

Mamapreneurs undergo 14 days of training covering:-

• The curriculum
• Child protection
• First-aid
• Vocational skills such as how to run your own playgroup
• Resource-making skills
• Children’s health & nutrition

There are three/four women per community. Refugees are eligible to take part in the programme, under specific legal terms, as volunteers, receiving a stipend.

This element of empowering women within the community is what makes Learn to Play successful. Women are committed and do not leave the communities, but continue to give back. It is a sustainably developed model.?

Prior to becoming mamapreneurs they may not have had any form of employment or formal education.?

Becoming a mamapreneur builds their self-esteem and confidence and, within the context, they are experts in early childhood education and development. They also become part of a larger support group, working with other mamapreneurs in the country.?

The entrepreneurial group of mothers meet annually and has built measures for shared collaboration, establishing a professional network via WhatsApp groups. This brings a necessary level of accountability, which is very important for the sustained development of the program. Since 2017 when the programme began, over 42 mamapreneurs have been trained. Currently, there are 24 mamapreneurs and there will be an additional 18 by June 2023. The programme has impacted over 900 children to date and once children finish at Learn to Play they go on to primary school.

Education in Botswana - a quick insight

The school year in Botswana runs from January to December, and for private schools, in June, of the academic year, young learners are assessed for school readiness. They are not necessarily required to read and write but are assessed on - social and emotional learning (including confidence), ability to share, the ability to make friends and work well within a group.

Assessments are conducted by officials from the schools and take into consideration feedback from teachers and parents. Physical development is also part of the assessment (fine motor and gross motor), language skills and ability to express themselves, cognitive skills and pre-numeracy amongst others.

Government schools are free in Botswana from ages five to 18 years. Children? ‘graduate’ from Learn to Play and go on to reception or standard one depending on what primary school place is available. After primary level (age 12/13 onwards) children will attend secondary school. Not all towns have a secondary school and they have the option of attending boarding school if there is no school within the vicinity of their community.

In response to a question about using teenagers within the Learn to Play programme, Priyanka explained that there has to be trust within the community for the women who lead the programme. Traditionally, teenagers are not seen as being reliable or responsible enough to take on such a role at such a young age.?

There is still a high failure rate when students leave middle school for high school and this excludes some of them from attending secondary school. Additionally, teen pregnancies are common and after the birth of these children, it is unlikely that the mothers will go back to school. However, such children may become part of the Learn to Play programme.

Challenges

When delivering education, challenges are inevitable. Here are two from Little Einsteins:

1. Making sure that parental expectations are met and that parents understand the importance and essence of a play-based learning system. Not every parent understands the value of play-based learning and sometimes they ask for workbooks and other academic based learning tools.?
2. The student body is diverse which is wonderful, but they do have a lot of children from expat families and this means children come and go at different times, from varied backgrounds. This can present a challenge in terms of enrolment and consistency, but also around friendship groups and teaching and learning.?

4 Tips for Preschool Success from Little Einsteins

1. An all inclusive service to parents. At Little Einsteins no child has to pay extra for after school activities. This means that children do not feel left out when there are after school activities such as swimming, music or other activities.
2. A 100% play-based programme. In addition to having play as a central theme there is a positive behaviour management system in place. There are no rewards, no stickers or ‘naughty corners’. The team implements a virtues-based approach for guiding the children.?
3. Small class sizes. There are small class sizes and this will not change. There are a maximum of 12 children per class.?
4. Social and Emotional Development. Teachers prioritise social and emotional development and emphasise curiosity and imagination as skills to be developed. The preschool practises mindfulness from age two. This is reflected in the maturity and happiness of the children when they leave the programme and transition to primary school? with relative ease.

With a magic wand…

If Priyanka had a magic wand, she would:?

1. Little Einsteins - ensure that all parents understand the value of play-based learning and that there may not be a necessity for academic pressure. Some of the pressure to have an academic-based system comes from the schools. In Gaborone, there are a lot of children applying to primary schools and not enough spaces in some of the more popular private schools.
2. Learn to Play -? guarantee universal equal access to quality early year’s education for every child, and this would not be seen as a luxury. She pointed out that four out of five children under the age of five in Botswana have no exposure to early years programmes.

And so....

Priyanka made it clear that it was not fair to place the onus on mamapreneurs or mothers to provide early education in rural communities and that where possible, full parental engagement was necessary. As part of the programme she provides playboxes with resources and guides for mothers and fathers in certain communities, so that the fathers can be involved in the process of education.?

Priyanka emphasised that her team does not recruit the mothers, but liaises with community leaders, medical staff and school leaders within each community. They nominate the women that are most suitable to take on the roles of mamapreneurs. Ladies who are responsible and able to take up the requirements needed for training and going on to serve young learners.?

The beauty of this model is its cultural relevance and the element of sustainability.?

"Imagine a world where every child is learning through play”

The story continues..

Thanks to Priyanka for such an inspiring interview. Wishing you continued success as the programme grows.

Before I sign off for April 2023, I must mention a book that, with some help, will soon be published by a young entrepreneur in Nigeria (okay he's 14 years of age:)).

Shakizzy Ikoro is a teenager still in high school with a dream of becoming a software engineer. He authored the e-book "Changing the Narrative" which he Intends to publish if he raises the capital.

If you choose to pre-order the book for USD2 click on this link: https://selar.co/haul

I trust that you have gained some insight regarding preschool education in Botswana. As usual, I must mention that this is one story, there are thousands more.

If you run a preschool in sub-Saharan Africa and would like to be interviewed you can email me at: [email protected].

Additionally if you are an early educator interested in improving the narrative in your corner of the continent please sign up here. I will be starting discussions on Zoom soon for like-minded professionals.

Enjoy each moment.

Patricia Mezu M.A.Ed. | Director Professional Minds | www.prminds.org