2008 Christmas Book Drive

Introduction

• Ngondzen, a village with a population 4,300 people, has 1,100 children of school attending age (4-12 years). The rapid decline in commercial activities in the village has resulted in 41% of children not attending school and approximately 98% of students are unable to afford basic text books. From 1999 to present, St. John the Baptist Primary and Nursery school Ngondzen has been faced with a constant increase in its school dropout rate of 41%.
• This means out of 40 boys and 35 girls who were admitted in class I in 1999/2000 academic year, 23 boys and 23 girls reached class VI in 2005/2006. The school currently has a population of 251 pupils with a staff of 8 teachers. Catholic schools are the only available schools within walking distance from the villagers. The nearest government institution is about 6 km from Ngondzen.

Project Cost

• Ngondzen Book initiative Cost Analysis
• For Total Cost USD 868.46 we provided 251 students at FCFA 1,500.00 ~ $3.46 per book

Textbook Model

1. Teachers will sign off on every book they collect at the Headmasters office
2. The books will be handed to students at the beginning of every class and returned to teacher at the end of the class.
3. Teachers will return the books to a bookshelf in the Headmasters office at the end of the school period
4. Headmaster will sign off on every book returned
5. In need to take book home, students will sign off on every book they collect for a period of 12 hours

Project Impact

The 251 Textbooks to enabled pupils to be able to:

• Read by reading more
• Gain the ability to improve on their writing skills and strategy use
• Build fluency
• Enlarge vocabulary