African Adventures works with two large, overcrowded schools on the outskirts of Zanzibar Island’s Stone Town that educate a combined total of 10,000 children between the ages of 6-18. The schools are so overpopulated that they are required to split the school day in two, running classes for half the students in the morning and the other half in the afternoon. Because of this, many students are missing out on the full education they deserve. We are working with the schools to improve and increase their facilities to address this issue.

Teaching assistant volunteers work alongside teachers and other volunteers to help manage the demands of educating large classes of mixed students. There are typically large class sizes in Zanzibar, which can be extremely challenging because of the difference in academic ability across the student body. High-achieving students can be held back and struggling students can often get left behind. Teaching assistants can help bridge that gap because the class can be divided into smaller groups to work on more relevant topics. Once comfortable with their allocated class, volunteers may feel ready to start helping with lesson delivery and then progress to independently delivering lessons. To support volunteers with preparing for this role, we have a Volunteer Resource Portal which is full of syllabus information, lesson planning tips and interactive session ideas. Our aim is to provide volunteers with the guidance and reassurance they need to effectively carry out the teaching assistance role.