Cairo's Garbage City
Cairo's Garbage City
The core problem of the country’s education system remains its poor quality. The majority of students leave primary school without being able to read fluently, while poor reading and writing skills contribute to a 30 per cent unemployment rate among young people.
In the process of waste management, education of the public especially the younger people is essential towards resolving the trash issues.
The learning process is designed around real situations familiar to the boys from their day-to-day lives. The approach assumes that literacy taught through a vivid process of initiating and sustaining creates self-empowerment through the experience of free decision-making and freedom of action. Teaching basic literacy in a context that adapts to the environment of the boys, the programme combines knowledge in maths, science, music, painting, personal and environmental hygiene, recycling, the use of office software and Google maps. The programme also covers computer skills, the principles of project management, book keeping and simple accounting, and art and drama.
The literacy classes use vocabulary known to the learners through their work as recyclers. A typical class is built around the recycling of shampoo bottles. A mathematics class might include safety measurements and calculations as to what might be earned given the number, size and price of the bottles. After students collect the shampoo bottles, they learn how to count them and how to read the brand name. They use their math and literacy skills to fill out forms indicating how many bottles they retrieved. The forms are then given to the multinationals which pay each learner for bottles they collected. The courses thus stress technical learning through active work experience. There is an arts element too. The drama curriculum included a play about the life and history of the garbage collectors in Cairo that is performed to educate people about the challenges facing the garbage collectors in Egypt.
The methodology used is unique, working with the sound of a letter rather than its name. After completing a basic level of reading and writing, the learners work with information and communication technologies in order to learn how to integrate Google in their daily work and planning.
For example, most of our students work with their parents in collecting the garbage from Cairo’s neighborhoods and streets. To support that work, they are taught how to use Google maps to identify the area in which they are supposed to work, the name of the streets and the best route to take.
Specialists in education develop a curriculum tailored to the life of the community and continuously add new elements. The material was developed by Dr Laila Iskandar with support from the teachers and is based on the Montessori approach to math and science. Further materials used in the programme include books and notebooks, computers, musical instruments and art material, the plastic cutting machine and the safety materials.
The core problem of the country’s education system remains its poor quality. The majority of students leave primary school without being able to read fluently, while poor reading and writing skills contribute to a 30 per cent unemployment rate among young people.
In the process of waste management, education of the public especially the younger people is essential towards resolving the trash issues.
The learning process is designed around real situations familiar to the boys from their day-to-day lives. The approach assumes that literacy taught through a vivid process of initiating and sustaining creates self-empowerment through the experience of free decision-making and freedom of action. Teaching basic literacy in a context that adapts to the environment of the boys, the programme combines knowledge in maths, science, music, painting, personal and environmental hygiene, recycling, the use of office software and Google maps. The programme also covers computer skills, the principles of project management, book keeping and simple accounting, and art and drama.
The literacy classes use vocabulary known to the learners through their work as recyclers. A typical class is built around the recycling of shampoo bottles. A mathematics class might include safety measurements and calculations as to what might be earned given the number, size and price of the bottles. After students collect the shampoo bottles, they learn how to count them and how to read the brand name. They use their math and literacy skills to fill out forms indicating how many bottles they retrieved. The forms are then given to the multinationals which pay each learner for bottles they collected. The courses thus stress technical learning through active work experience. There is an arts element too. The drama curriculum included a play about the life and history of the garbage collectors in Cairo that is performed to educate people about the challenges facing the garbage collectors in Egypt.
The methodology used is unique, working with the sound of a letter rather than its name. After completing a basic level of reading and writing, the learners work with information and communication technologies in order to learn how to integrate Google in their daily work and planning.
For example, most of our students work with their parents in collecting the garbage from Cairo’s neighborhoods and streets. To support that work, they are taught how to use Google maps to identify the area in which they are supposed to work, the name of the streets and the best route to take.
Specialists in education develop a curriculum tailored to the life of the community and continuously add new elements. The material was developed by Dr Laila Iskandar with support from the teachers and is based on the Montessori approach to math and science. Further materials used in the programme include books and notebooks, computers, musical instruments and art material, the plastic cutting machine and the safety materials.
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