Most children in poor countries are being failed by their schools
Having teachers follow pre-baked lessons could help
“Good job you!” shouts Pauline Bika, as a group of schoolchildren completes the hokey-cokey. “Good job me!” choruses her class. Ms Bika runs a small government primary school in Edo state, in southern Nigeria. It is reached by a mud track that starts not far outside Benin City, the state capital. Her school has 140 pupils, but only three teachers. She seems both pleased and a little embarrassed to offer a visitor a plastic chair.
This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Education in a can”
From the January 28th 2023 edition
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