Child-Friendly Schools in the Maldives

UNICEF correspondent Rob McBride reports on the new child-friendly schools in the Maldives.

Child-Friendly Schools in the Maldives Rob: You're watching UNICEF television. In this child-friendly classroom, play based teaching methods provide a clear indication of the change in schools in the Maldives. And the difference in the children is obvious. Ahmed Sobah: You noticed the difference and the initiative children take. They finish one task and then move on to the next without being asked. Rob: And at the end of class, parents are invited in to share in the wrap up session on the days activities. Just a short distance from this elementary school on the island of Medu, the local pre-school has also undergone a child-friendly transformation. I’d like to play with dolls, four-year old Afnaan Anwar tell us. Having brought up three older children, her mother Veruda Gasim is able to compare the teaching methods now with those before the tsunami. Veruda: Teaching now is best from more on play and there are lots of materials for the children to use. Rob: The changes are driven by teacher resource centers like this one built throughout the 0110 with support from UNICEF, they 0112 of the art equipment which is popular with teachers and students alike. Ibrahim Rasheed: If you’re talking about for respect. We found that in every class, we found five, or six, or seven students who can't read, who can't write. But now, now you go and see, everybody can write. Everybody can read. Mansoor M. Ali: So today, if you need any child who is just graduating from a child-friendly school, he or she is pride, a responsive, very confident. Rob: Five years after the tsunami, a new generation of school children benefiting from the changes introduced and response to it. For UNICEF television, this is Rob McBride in the Maldives. Unite for children.