Category: Sri Lanka

By the end of May, twenty four children (eleven boys and thirteen girls) were studying at Saplings Preschool.

The new and continuing pupils have been engaged in a variety of activities including learning the alphabet and practising handwriting. The children are also covering the topic of ‘good habits’, which includes the importance of punctuality, maintaining personal hygiene and  respecting adults. In addition, they are learning to identify different animals, plants, fruit, vegetables and vehicles. Furthermore, through time spent drawing, painting and doing craftwork, the children are improving their creative skills. Mindfulness activities are now integrated into some lessons to aid the development of listening and observation skills.

At the annual local sports day in March, the pupils were given a special opportunity to participate in a team game. 

The Saplings academic year 2022-23 was celebrated with a graduation ceremony and concert to recognise the achievements of the fifteen children who have successfully completed their preschool education and are ready to progress to primary school.

Prior to new children starting at Saplings preschool for 2023-24, their parents attended regular meetings with staff to discuss the curriculum. A shramadana campaign (gift of labour) was carried out by parents and children to clean and tidy the classroom premises prior to the start of the new term. At the end of March, a welcome ceremony was held for all new preschool entrants.

In April, pupils were invited to attend a Sinhala and Hindu New Year ceremony held at the SERVE Head Office. In May, they spent time making cards to celebrate Mother’s Day and also created lanterns and decorations for Vesak festivities at home and to decorate their classroom. The children were provided with markers and coloured pencil sets to improve their drawing and creativity skills. 

Pupils continue to participate in activities using building-blocks challenges, jigsaw puzzles, playing with soft toys and under the supervision of their teachers in playing outdoor games such as passing and throwing rubber balls.

In May, the Executive Director of SERVE visited Saplings to monitor their activities and to talk with pupils and teachers about the children’s progress. 

Currently there are twenty-eight children (fourteen boys and fourteen girls) studying at Saplings Preschool.  

In their classes, pupils are engaged in learning letters and words in Tamil and English. Drawing and painting materials are provided so that the children can draw and do craftwork and other activities that develop their creativity skills. Pupils also learn new songs and poems with a volunteer teacher, and perform them in their morning assemblies. Other indoor activities include solving puzzles and using building blocks. Outdoor games are supervised by their class teacher and these activities have made the children very happy after months of staying at home due to the many challenges they have faced during the pandemic and the economic downturn in Sri Lanka. Every Friday, the cleanliness and tidiness of the students is checked by their teacher.

The children are still supplied with nutritional snacks because families are facing many challenges in feeding their children.

At Christmas, via SERVE, the children were invited as guests to the Hilton Hotel in Colombo to switch on their Christmas tree lights. Transportation was provided by SERVE and the Hilton covered the cost of everything else. Pupils enjoyed this special day, which included eating delicious food, playing various games, dancing and watching a magician’s show. Every child was given a gift at the end of the party. 

Currently there are twenty eight children (14 boys & 14 girls) studying at Saplings Preschool. The children have returned to attending  school from Monday-Friday from 8am-12pm and spend their time learning letters, numbers, drawing and learning to read and write in Tamil. They are also taught English.

To celebrate ‘World Children’s Day’ in Sri Lanka, the preschoolers were taken to a children’s amusement park in Panadura and enjoyed a fun-filled day going on rides and having  healthy snacks.

Poor nutrition remains a problem amongst these preschool children so a nutritional snack is being given to them  two to three times a week at school. Last week, the children received milk, yoghurt and orange juice on three separate days, which they enjoyed very much.  

SERVE has also co-ordinated and obtained permission to organise mobile eye-screening camps in two public schools educating children from low income households. Opticians working at the community eye care centre, supported by SERVE, conducted the examinations and will provide glasses and medication as appropriate. The initial screening was done for 257 students, of which sixty five students were referred for additional eye care and in need of treatment to correct their eyesight. 

With regards to providing the six interest-free loans to be paid back within ten months (Feb. – Nov. 2022) to mothers of school-age children, repayments have already been used from the fifth month to fund four more loans. 

So far the six businesses are doing well – carpentry (2), sewing (2), packing lunches (1), buying and selling clothes (1). Profits are used for the benefit of each family and their children’s education.

However, two businesses – food production and running a small mobile grocery shop have made low profits, and are thus repaying in smaller instalments. One sewing business had to reduce production while the mother was unwell. Another business – the mobile grocery shop, reported difficulties due to the high cost of items and reduced sales, following the collapse of  the Sri Lankan economy.

There are currently 26 children (12 girls/14 boys) studying at Saplings Pre-School, Rathmalana. Pupils have been engaged in craft work using cutting and pasting techniques, bottle caps, matchsticks and cotton wool balls etc.

In May, they celebrated the Vesak festival which commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and the death of Gautama Buddha. The children worked in teams to make Vesak lanterns and cards.

So far in this new academic year, the children have been engaged in learning letters and numbers, drawing and colouring. They are also learning songs and poems in English, Sinhala and Tamil. For many lessons, the pupils use story books to encourage reading and discussion. In addition, they do building block activities to develop their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination as well as playing games in the grounds of the school.

Staff at Saplings continue to follow all COVID-19 rules and regulations imposed by the Government.

Due to the economic crisis in the country, the parents of these children are facing many challenges and SERVE continues to assist them as and when possible through food relief. This article is based on the period from March 1^st– June 7^th as the situation is ongoing. In general, the children have managed to attend Saplings on a regular basis, although sometimes their parents are stuck in long queues to buy paraffin, oil, gas etc. and if the children are with them they are unable to get to school. It is also difficult to take buses and three wheelers due to the  shortage of petrol. 

*The situation in Sri Lanka is worsening as the unprecedented economic crisis is deepening. If you wish to help the children supported by SERVE, you can do so by calling or by writing directly to ICT.

End of year concerts and ceremonies have taken place at Saplings and thirteen children have progressed to primary school. There are currently 28 children studying at the pre-school. More recently, the library facilities at the school have been enhanced by the purchase of new books and equipment.

The following three SERVE projects have been supported by the ICT COVID Relief Fund and a donation from the Rotary Club of Coventry.

Project 1. Food Assistance: Twenty four food packs were given to children and mothers affected by COVID-19. Each pack contained packs of dry rations including 10kg of rice, milk powder, dahl, sugar, tea, soya meat, coconuts, biscuits and noodles.

Project 2. Micro-Enterprise Support: Six interest-free loans to mothers of school-age children to be paid back within 10 months through SERVE self-help groups. The loan may be used as running capital or to purchase small items that may strengthen their business and income such as grocery shops (1), food production (2), sewing (2) and carpentry (1).

Project 3. Children’s Educational Support Programme: We have given school supply packs to 20 disadvantaged children – 10 girls and 10 boys from Moratuwa. The packs consisted of school shoes, school uniforms/underclothes, books, pens, colour pencils, pencils, erasers and rulers. 

A total of 28 pupils are currently enrolled at Saplings preschool. Twelve pupils progressed to primary school from the last academic year and fourteen new pupils started at Saplings in July.

Preschools were closed up to the 26^th of October due to COVID-19, so the Saplings teacher continued to visit pupils at home. The children were provided with workbooks, artbooks and appropriate educational items such as pencils and colour pencils. The teacher guided them individually during her home visits and all pupils were given protective face shields and masks in line with government health guidelines to ensure their safety. 

The pupils completed the activities with great enthusiasm and their parents reported that their children were delighted when the preschool teacher visited. 

The teacher also continued to monitor the progress of the pupils through phone calls. In addition, with the help of their parents, she later managed to organise the use of WhatsApp to enable families to send photographs of activities that had been completed by the children.

We were very happy when Saplings was finally allowed to reopen at the end of October 2021. Since then, educational activities have been carried out according to government health protocols such as keeping a safe distance and wearing face masks.