ARGENTINA / EDUCATION

A new teaching strategy developed by UNICEF focuses on new and practical ways to teach math, literature and science. UNICEF

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:20
• Production Date: 29 July 2009
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF
• Subject Topical: EDUCATION; SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
• Geographic Subject: ARGENTINA
• MAMS Id: U090729c

Description

STORY: ARGENTINA / EDUCATION
TRT: 2:20
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: SPANISH / NATS

DATELINE: 23 APRIL 2009, RESISTENCIA, ARGENTINA

Shotlist

1. Med shot, girl standing in front of tree
2. Close up, face of girl standing in front of tree
3. Med shot, teacher writing on chalk board
4. Med shot, girl writing in her notebook as she sits at her desk
5. Close up, girl with glasses and white shirt writing in notebook
6. Close up, child's hands placing letters on white and yellow mat
7. Med shot, man and woman sitting across from each other talking
8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Susana Sanchez, Principal:
"Before this program, twenty percent of the students would be retained. But now, we've dropped that number down to two percent."
9. Close up, children's book open to a page with a bird's wing
10. Med shot, girl sits in chair in doorway reading
11. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Maria Angel Gomez, six years old:
"When I get older I would like to be a teacher, to teach children how to read and how to work."
12. Wide shot, mother holding boy stands next to girl in front of brick house
13. Close up, girl's hand writing with green pencil
14. Close up, face of girl in blue sweatshirt and red necklace
15. Med shot, mother stands next to brick wall looking down
16. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Rosa Gomez, mother:
"I never finished my schooling, so at the beginning, I was thinking that maybe my children could not finish school, either. I'm trying to help them as much as I can, to have a nice school and to graduate, which I never did. It's every mother's dream for her children."
17. Med shot, female teacher sitting at small table with several girls
18. Close up, girl writes in notebook as her friend looks over her shoulder
19. Close up, girl in blue sweatshirt with white strips writes in notebook
20. Med shot, four children sit at yellow table

Storyline

For the first six months of first grade, Maria Angel Gomez struggled to keep up with the other students. She showed little interest in her school work and was slowly falling behind. Her mother worried that she would fail and need to repeat first grade, a common problem in Argentina.

But when a new approach to teaching was put in place, Maria Angel began to flourish. This innovative strategy focused on new, practical ways to teach math, literature and science. Extra attention was paid to children at risk of failing, especially in the crucial first year of school. Maria Angel's principal could hardly believe the results.

"Before this program, twenty percent of the students would be retained," says Principal Susana Sanchez. "But now, we've dropped that number down to two percent."

Maria Angel learned how to read, and developed a love for stories like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Her attitude toward school was transformed.

"When I get older I would like to be a teacher, to teach children how to read and how to work," she says.

Maria Angel shares a modest house with her mother and brother. The new teaching strategy, which was developed by UNICEF, encourages her mother to play an active role in Maria Angel's learning, a crucial element of the program.

"I never finished my schooling, so at the beginning, I was thinking that maybe my children could not finish school, either," says Rosa Gomez. "I'm trying to help them as much as I can, to have a nice school and to graduate, which I never did. It's every mother's dream for her children."

By engaging children when they're young, teachers and parents are decreasing the likelihood that they'll drop out when they reach high school.

"For education, this is an innovative strategy developed to reduce the failure at school -- at the primary level and at the secondary level. It proposes some interventions and methodology to teach math and literature; and it also proposes a protective environment at the whole municipality level with interventions of health and protection¨ says Elena Duro, UNICEF´s education specialist.

Here in Argentina, hope and confidence are being returned to children who were on the verge of being denied the fundamental human right of an education. The benefits will be felt for generations.