Putting letters together: How extra lessons are helping children learn in Pemba

Pemba, Cabo Delgado - Inside a classroom at Escola Básica de Paquitequete, teacher Artimissa Antumane points to letters on the blackboard and slowly sounds out syllables. In front of her, children sit on blue mats spread across the floor, listening intently.

Among them is 10-year-old Meriam Gerson Ferro.

“I am very happy because I am putting the letters together and making words,” she says. “Before I did not know many things, and my teacher is teaching me a lot about numbers and letters.”

For Meriam, the afternoon lesson is different from her regular school day. Her morning class can have around 75 pupils. Here, there are no more than 30.

“I really like the class in the afternoon because there are not so many students,” she says. “I learn a lot more in the afternoon.”

Meriam is one of the children selected for supplementary learning classes at the school, designed to strengthen basic literacy and numeracy among pupils in Grades 2 to 3 who have fallen behind.

For two hours each afternoon, three days a week over a three month period, the children practice skills such as recognising letters, forming words and counting. Their teachers identify pupils who need additional support.

The programme is particularly important in Cabo Delgado, where years of conflict and displacement have disrupted the education of many children. Some have missed months or even years of learning.

School Director Benjamin Francisco Apaina says teachers previously tried to give struggling pupils additional attention during regular lessons, but overcrowded classrooms made this difficult.

The school also faces challenges keeping some children in education. Some leave to help their families at home or in the fields, while others may leave because of child marriage or return to their communities after displacement.

Apaina says the supplementary classes, together with school materials such as bags, notebooks and pens, can help motivate children to stay in school.

For Artimissa, 37, the smaller class gives her more time to support each child.

“When they started, the level of some of the children was very low,” she says. “They could not read or write the alphabet or count. But I have seen good progress. Now the majority know how to count and write the letters.”

Some pupils face challenges outside the classroom too. Artimissa says children may be expected to work at home, on family farms or selling goods, leaving little time for homework. Others speak local languages at home and are still learning Portuguese.

At the beginning of the programme, Artimissa went from house to house speaking with parents and encouraging them to send their children to the afternoon classes.

Now, she says, the children are asking for more.

“The students want five afternoons a week, not just three. They really like it.”

She has also noticed that they are more confident.

“The biggest change I have seen is that the children are more involved in the class,” Artimissa says. “They are talking and participating in the activities.”

According to the school director, participating pupils are improving their performance and moving closer to the average level of their classmates.

When asked what she wants to be when she grows up, Meriam’s answer comes easily.

“I want to be a teacher like my teacher.”

UNICEF, with the generous support of the Government of Canada, is supporting remedial classes as part of the 'Strengthening Reintegration, Resilience and Prevention Pathways for Children and Adolescents Affected by Conflict in Cabo Delgado' programme, helping children affected by conflict and displacement to catch up on learning, improve their learning outcomes and continue their education.