The Child Who Falls Behind Is Still a Child with a Future

The Story of Our Free Summer School Programme

Second Annual Edition | Educational Recovery, Skills Acquisition and Childhood Development

Before We Talk About the Children, We Must Talk About What It Means to Fall Behind

I remember being the child who struggled in school. Not because I did not want to learn or was incapable of learning, but because my life outside the classroom was different from that of some of the children sitting beside me.

I had three younger children to look after. By the time I arrived at school or tried to settle into my studies, I was rarely among the children at the top of the class. I remember coming eighth or tenth from the bottom, watching other children understand things that took me much longer to grasp.

For a long time, that was simply how I saw myself academically.

Then, one day, my mother promised that whoever came first in class would receive a bicycle.

I wanted that bicycle!

For the first time, I pushed myself differently. I studied with a determination I had never experienced before. And although I did not come first, I came third.

It was the first time I had achieved that position in primary school, just as I was preparing to move into secondary education.

I did not win the bicycle. But I discovered something far more important: I could learn. I could improve. I was capable of more than my previous results suggested. I simply needed a reason to believe in myself, an opportunity to demonstrate my ability, and the right conditions to help me succeed.

That experience has stayed with me.

Today, when I meet a child struggling with reading, mathematics, handwriting, or classroom participation, I do not immediately conclude that the child lacks intelligence.

Instead, I want to understand what is happening around that child.

Is the child hungry? Is there someone at home who can help with homework? Does the child have the materials needed to practise? Has a teacher had the time to explain the lesson differently? Is the child afraid of being laughed at for getting an answer wrong?

Does the child need more time, a different teaching method, or simply someone who believes improvement is possible?

I know from experience that children do not all learn at the same pace. Some understand a lesson the first time. Others must read it again, write it down, practise repeatedly, or see how it applies to everyday life.

Neither child is less deserving of an education.

A child’s position in class tells us how that child performed in a particular assessment. It does not tell us everything that child is capable of becoming.

That belief is one of the reasons we created the Okachi Charity Foundation Free Summer School Programme.

Faith Morey
Founder,
Okachi Charity Foundation