These workshops build on the success of the Educational Resources
Development Program (ERDP). Once a school has raised funds in
partnership with G.E.P. to purchase textbooks and/or other
educational resources, we provide a forum for learning how to use
these resources effectively. Rote memorization and traditional l
earning methods are the norm at most schools in the developing
world. Students are discouraged from analyzing problems and making
decisions. By shifting the focus away from the teacher and towards a
learner-centered environment, pupils can exercise the creativity
and problem-solving skills needed to compete in the modern
workplace.
Girls' Education Workshops
Young women in our partner communities face a number of social and
logistical obstacles to their education. From widespread sexual
abuse and teen pregnancy to the daily round of back-breaking
domestic chores, girls are at a disadvantage from the first day of
primary school. They must compete for space and attention at
poorly-equipped learning facilities--- amid the prevailing belief
that money spent on a girl's education is wasted, because her most
important task is to marry and bear children. G.E.P.'s Girls'
Education Workshops address these problems confronting female
pupils. Our staff works with teachers, administrators, and local
officials to define the issue of gender bias in the classroom, and
to consider the best ways to combat it.
Capacity-Building Workshops
To complement our resource projects and teacher training, G.E.P.
strives to involve the entire community in planning for sustained
improvements in education. This "capacity building" means
strengthening the capability--- not only of educators, but of
administrators and local officials as well--- to work together
toward specific educational goals. We encourage and assist
participants to draft a multi-year School Development Plan (SDP).
Each SDP is based on concrete targets and realistic action steps.
At every stage of the process, the community focuses on "P/R/T":
meaning the Persons involved, their various Responsibilities, and
the Timeline they will follow. Essentially, this capacity-building
provides G.E.P.'s rural partners with a chance to crest the waves
of successive development, rather than being swamped or stagnated
in a single approach to the problem.
