Secondary Students Are Off

All secondary students have bid their farewells and left the village to return to their respective schools.

Before the 2009 P7 students departed for their first year of secondary school there was a wonderful graduation ceremony. This ceremony congratulated the students on the impressive PLE performance, thanked their parents for their continued support, and praised the hard work of the REACH board, sponsors, headmaster, director and teachers. For many of the students, it will be their first time away from home and leaving the village, so the ceremony was a great send-off. The students were left with many words of advice and tips for overcoming homesickness.

Along with the 43 REACH students that recently received scholarships for secondary school, nine other students from surrounding outreach schools also received scholarships due to their outstanding performance on the PLE. The scholarship recipients were the top performers on the national exam from four different surrounding government schools.  Their impressive performance indicates how motivated and intelligent these children are – they overcame large class sizes (over 100 students per classroom) and limited school materials. Due to the support from REACH, these children are able to attend good secondary schools and receive a higher level of education. The children and parents were very grateful. One mother explained that without the scholarship, it would have been the end of her daughter’s education.