Kajoli Centers in Rohinga camps
In August 2011 six Kajoli Early Childhood Learning Centres were introduced at the two refugee camps in Kutupalong of Cox’s Bazar and Nayapara of Tekhnaf. Currently seven centers are running in seven blocks of the camps. Classes take place in two shifts to include all the children aged 4 in the education process.
Interest in the Kajoli-model sparked in the refugee camps, when the people heard their children would learn very quickly and enjoy the education. Today a total of 841 students have the opportunity to get education in the Kajoli-schools of the two refugee camps.
Kajoli is a pre-school learning model which emerged from a research project supported by Research Initiatives Bangladesh (RIB) in 2002. The first pre-school started in January 2003 in Kajoli, a village in Sreepur Upazila of Magura District in Southwest Bangladesh. Kajoli is an exceptional system of pre-school education using a playful approach to show that education is fun.
Through the innovative use of pocket boards, pocket cards, black boards and other tools the children learn to read, write and count much faster than through traditional methods. In fact, under the Kajoli-model, children are introduced to books, paper and pencils only in the last two months of the pre-school year.
Apart from learning to read, write and do simple arithmetic, the curriculum includes drawing, singing, dancing, nursery rhymes and recitation of poetry, listening to stories, storytelling and physical exercise. Education is thus understood in a broader sense, which includes art and culture, creative activities and development of other finer aspects of life.
The Kajoli-model is based on the community’s support regarding the establishment and maintenance of the centers, the collection the honorarium for the teacher, and the provision of food for the children. As a result, community participation has emerged as an essential element of the model. As various the models for community participation, as many different approaches to education can be found in all the centres around the country.
Dance by kajoli Children of the camps