Sept. 1994 Summer School Success?

by GhadaTarazi

The six-week summer school program (Omar Ibn Elkhattab School) is over. IQRA! explored the situation to see how the plans were visualized, and how they worked out in practice. So IQRA! interviewed both the organizers and the mothers of participants in an effort to draw lessons for the future.

The principal of the school, Br. Mohammed Sani, said that the school had around 35 students, divided into 5-6 groups. But some of them didn't attend the whole program. There were 8 volunteers; 7 women and 1 man. The tuition was $50 for the first child and $40 for each additional child. "For people who couldn't afford this fee, we asked them 'How much can you afford?' Sani added.

The designed program consisted of:

• Quranic session of about 45 minutes which included both reading and memorization.
• Crafts: drawing designs, cut and paste, models, songs, games, stories, and discussion.
• Sport activities for older children when the time allowed: soccer, volleyball, and baseball.
• Trips: to the zoo, COSI, and the Discovery Zone.
• Safety workshop: Two police officers talked to the students about crime prevention, how to be careful with strangers, and what to do in case of an emergency.

Both Mohammed and his assistant Nawal Yaqub agreed that they had enough volunteers to cover the school project adequately. Mohammed said: "We reduced the fee because of the volunteers. It was a great effort." Though they both feel that paid staff would significantly increase the quality of the school, still Nawal said, "The school should be kept as a voluntary effort every year. Doing that, money would be saved and mothers would come and work. After all, it is a fun school, not a real one." We asked them whether they had adequate funds to present interesting porojects. Sani said, "Never adequate, but it could be enough."

Ranking the success of the school on a scale of (1-5) [1 is poor and 5 is excellent], Sani said (4). He explained that they attained their goal which was to have a program designed by Omar Ibn El Khattab School and to have Muslim children getting together. Nawal ranked the school at (3). She explained that the school did not perform that well because the MSA had told them just 3 days before the school started to go ahead and design the program. "Also we have to ask the MSA for everything: money, trips, etc. This is too much bureaucracy. Give us the freedom to do everything ourselves. That will create a better program and consequently a better school." Although Nawal ranks the school at 3 she said that it was better this year than last year. She added: "Better because we have the experience from last year."

I asked Nawal, "What was the point of having this issue handled by the MSA?" She replied: "We (women of Omar Mosque) used to design the summer school for many years. However, we heard that the school board would be responsible this year. The teachers would be paid and the fee would be $100. The MSA developed application forms but nobody came forward. Nobody was willing to pay. From $20 last year to $1000 this year was a big jump. The MSA preferred not opening the school over dropping the fee. After much discussion, they agreed on $50 and gave us the OK to start."

We asked Nawal, "What was the role of the MSA in the summer school afterward?" She said: "I don't know. I was in charge of everything. I don't need a messenger between me and the MSA! The MSA didn't do much in terms of planning and organizing. They are inexperienced. The only thing the MSA promised was to provide us with 3 volunteers (men) to take care of the older kids. But even that didn't come through. Mohammed was the only one who helped with the boys. for next year the MSA should give us the freedom of planning and doing it ourselves. All we need is volunteers to take care of the teenager boys we have."

IQRA! interviewed 13 mothers whose children were enrolled in the summer school.

1. Everyone agreed that the summer school this year was better than last year, (of those who attended last year).
2. 
   We asked them whether they felt that the school was safe. Eight said YES and 5 said NO. Comments: They have too many children for one teacher. Some volunteers bring their babies and toddlers and are not really free from their mothering responsibilities to take proper care of their volunteer responsibilities, especially for trips. There should be at least 1 instructor for each group of 3 on trips. Also, the door of the mosque gets open sometimes and there was a chance for little kids to get out. "I have seen a 2-3 year old girl outside the mosque by herself." This is scary. [Street traffic is close to the doors.]
   
3. "Was the school worth the price you paid?" 10 said YES, 2 said NO and 1 said NOT SURE.
   

Suggestions and constructive criticism to improve the performance were centered around issues of planning and implementation:

Planning
• Organizers appointed and program developed at least a month before the school starts.
• Registration help prior to school opening.
• The school should not rely on voluntary work. Volunteers must be committed as far as time and effort. "Voluntary work doesn't mean that I show up whenever I feel like it."
• School calendar must be available at registration time.
• Special time arrangements made for trips. "There was not enough time to go and come back."
• Improved development and organization of Islamic program. More effort should be put on memorization of the Quran, introduction of Arabic alphabet and teaching children to read Quran. • Curriculum should be varied to avoid boredom, e.g. sports for all ages, more crafts and games.
• Improve variety of food offered. "Children should be given something other than peanut butter sandwiches!"
• Fees must be affordable for everyone. "90% of the community here are students who cannot afford $50 fee."
• Fees should be calculated in advance based on planned expenditures.
• Teachers/students ratio must be well planned.
• Story time can be used as an instructional tool for teaching seerah, Islamic manners, and Islamic studies.

Implementation:
• School hours must be respected by teachers and students. School must be opened 15-30 minutes before children come.
• Name tags must be ready a day before any trip.
• Volunteer schedules should be posted in advance.
• Schedule must be respected. "More than once the Quran session was canceled."
• Consistent discipline policies for the school - including teachers' children. Fun school doesn't mean that everyone goes wild!

Finally, ranking the school on a scale of 1-5, (1 is poor and 5 is excellent) we got the following results: One person said 2, 7 people said 3, 4 said 4, and 2 said 5.