CHILDREN from Beaconhills College’s Little Beacons really are beacons of hope.
When the children from the learning centre heard that kids in a remote part of Bangladesh did not have a kindergarten, they decided to help.
With support of teachers and families, they set about raising $8000 to build a new kindergarten on Bhola Island – one of the Ganges Delta’s most underdeveloped islands.
The demand for pre-school education has skyrocketed on the island, with dozens of young children keen to learn to read and write.
Work is now starting on the new kindergarten, making it the third one to be built on Bhola Island.
Head of Little Beacons, Vicki Reid, said the fundraising exercise was a highly unusual one because kindergartens usually concentrated on projects closer to home.
She said the children themselves came up with ideas on how to raise the money, including a free dress day and an art show where the college community was able to buy their works.
The parent group, Friends of Little Beacons, also contributed to fundraising efforts.
“I think for all the children it has heightened their awareness of how fortunate they all are,” Ms Reid said.
“It has really been a life-changing experience for our students.”
Charity organisation CO-ID (Co-operation in Development), run by the remarkable 92-year-old Fred Hyde AM, recently began to build kindergartens to add to its network of 44 schools on Bhola Island because young children kept turning up to school and sitting with their older siblings.
“That ended up disrupting the flow of the classes and making life very difficult for the teachers,” Mr Hyde said.
Beaconhills College has long supported CO-ID and helped fund one of the primary schools.
Last year a group of six college students became what is believed to be the first Western secondary school to visit Bhola Island.
The Little Beacons students were able to develop a deeper understanding of their project because the senior students showed them footage of their Bangladesh trip and answered their many questions.
Ms Reid said many of the Little Beacons children were now eagerly awaiting a future time when they could travel to Bangladesh and see it first-hand.
CO-ID volunteer Sue Walpole, who accepted the fundraising cheque from the college, said the existing kindergartens on Bhola Island catered for between 60 and 80 students.
She said pre-school education was vital.
“If they can start teaching these children at an earlier age it means an improvement to their education and their English will be better,” she said.
CO-ID has also concentrated on raising education standards for girls, who traditionally married very young.
Ms Walpole said the schools would not accept boys unless the family also agreed to send their daughter.
Ms Reid said Little Beacons Learning Centre may consider raising more money to fund another kindergarten on the island.
Once established, the kindergartens cost $2000 a year to run.
