Despite his disability, which makes it difficult for him to move around, made worse by not having a wheelchair, every day he works normally, António Pedro, known on Rua Eliseu Alves, in the Marconi area (Cazenga-Luanda), by Professor MT , dedicated to teaching classes from 1st to 4th for children theoretically considered outside the education system
The daily class sessions take place in an open compartment measuring around four meters long by three meters wide, limited by brownish wooden beams, which hold some zinc sheets, insufficient to cover even half of the adapted room.
The first morning shift class at the well-known «Escola Primária Cantinho da Sabedoria» is made up of more than 30 children (students) aged between five and 13, as it houses, at the same time, students from 1st and 2nd classes, from seven to 10 am, and a subsequent group, from the 3rd and 4th classes, as OPAÍS found out, when he heard, on site, Professor MT “For now, we have outlined the coexistence of two classes, for each class, because we still only have one room, but we have already received approval from the person responsible for the backyard to adapt two other classrooms in these spaces”, informed António Domingos Simão Pedro, while pointing with his finger raised at two free spaces less than five meters from the only room erected, with rudimentary means.
The primary instructor, who confirmed the existence of the 5th and 6th grade class in the afternoon, assured that despite the students being congregated in a single group, he and his team pay due attention to the separation of content and monitoring of parties. “There is no shock in teaching, much less in learning, because we have the programs and dosages, in addition to having pedagogical preparation to deal with situations of this nature”, assured Professor MT, adding that they know and master the particularities of each child. When the three rooms are built, the idea of Professor MT’s team is to have the 4th, 5th and 6th classes properly separated.
Although I fear seeing the number of children in the 1st and 2nd classes increase, as a result of requests from those in charge of the neighborhood and surrounding areas, the plan is to do the same with the morning shift. “We intend to eliminate the two shifts, in the morning, to have just one, like in the afternoon, because that’s how it should be, but if we have a lot of 1st class students, we’re going to have to double down”, announced the interviewee, who He has two more teachers on his team. Asked if he and his team are aware of the new challenges of primary education, which points to the cancellation of monoteaching, in the 5th and 6th classes, António Pedro revealed that at these levels, classes are already taught by two and, sometimes, by two three teachers.
Accounts that count most against you
Professor MT said that if the participation of parents and guardians was regular and assertive, he would have hired more instructors, in order to cover the 5th and 6th with four teachers, each teaching only two related subjects. “We here charge a monthly fee of one thousand kwanzas for students in the 1st and 2nd classes, one thousand and 200 for those in the 3rd and 4th, and one thousand and 500 for those in the 5th and 6th. In addition to being very few, not all those in charge give and I have to understand them, because I know the social condition of many of them, whose family’s hope is really placed in the training of the children they send to our classes”, he declared.
According to him, from the little he earns there, he withdraws 40 percent which he uses to pay the other two teachers and the rest improvises to support the school and home”, revealed Professor MT, who, at that moment, was unable to avoid a feeling of sadness, due to the fact that the bills will end up penalizing their family at home more. Currently, the teacher has 72 students enrolled in his school. But, for some time now, seven have stopped showing up, which is forcing the person responsible for Cantinho da Sabedoria to plan a visit to parents and guardians, as has been done in these cases.
It is important to mention that, despite having created the project to help children not be left without studying, António Domingos Simão Pedro threw himself into this work to minimize the daily needs of his home. To demonstrate that, in this chapter, the desire to help those who also need help prevails more than the desire to gain from this service, the ‘schoolmaster’ reported that there are days when they can’t even have chalk to continue with classes. . Because of this, chalk, eraser, desks and teaching materials (manuals) are among the first lines on the list of support that educators in the Cantinho da Sabedoria project need, although zinc sheets, wood and nails are also needed.
Vocation of over 15 years
It was more than 15 years ago that António Domingos Simão Pedro discovered his vocation to teach, instruct and educate. But, at the age of 22, he began working for other young people of his time who were involved in the field of education, sometimes in tutoring rooms, sometimes in small schools, located in the Marconi neighborhood. “But, later, when I started a family, the salaries I earned were no longer enough to support my wives and children. Therefore, I decided to create my class, at the back of Rua da Pousada, where there was already a structure erected”, reported Professor MT, having highlighted that, later, the owner needed his space, to the point of interrupting a initiative that was already four years old (2017-2021).
Drawing on his experience in the aforementioned adventure of primary education, António Domingos Simão Pedro took advantage of the two-year interregnum, curiously from the hangover from the Covid-19 period, in which he would not meet biosafety conditions to ensure sanitary conditions. of students, in classes, to better plan the resumption of Cantinho da Sabedoria.
“That’s how, on my wife’s advice, I went to talk to my neighbor Manucho, to whom they left the responsibility for this vast backyard, where I asked to adapt a room”, recalled Professor MT, considering himself happy, because, instead of one, the request made two other corners available to him, so that, when he was able, he could build two more adapted classrooms. António Domingos Simão Pedro graduated at secondary level, in the Economic and Legal Sciences course.
However, before launching into the world of teaching, he chose to undertake training that would give him pedagogical aggregation. According to him, the effort to excel academically and professionally did not end there, as he challenged himself to undertake training in English, which ensured he spoke fluently, in addition to announcing his advanced instruction in computer science, in the management chapter. of the computer, from the user’s perspective, as you made a point of mentioning.
4-year-old children invade MT classes
For some time now, teachers António Pedro and João Cordeiro have been able to take in four-year-old boys, who accompany their six- or seven-year-old siblings in the 1st and 2nd classes. This is the case of Mirene Neusa Lukénia Martins, who can now say her full name and write some vowels. The girl said that she is learning a lot and will not give up. Joel and Zekilson are other guys in these conditions, surpassing Mirene for having been there longer. Ribas António Bole is six years old and attends 1st grade. He reported that his notebook is full of ‘Good’, because he does his class exercises and homework well.
His classmate, Wami Francisco, demonstrated that he has already learned the Portuguese alphabet by reciting it in the presence of this report’s team and the school’s teachers. Anilda Pedro de Sousa, the girl in 3rd grade, who wants to be a police officer, praises the attention that Professor MT gives to all the students. In turn, eight-year-old Gilson Fernando Pereira acknowledged that he is not yet reading, but that the teacher’s work indicates that he will be able to do so by next year, because he can already spell some words and read them by syllables.
“Our quality attracts those in charge”
Regarding the performance of his students, the teacher at Escola Primária Cantinho da Sabedoria recognized that the difficulty in positioning his children on bench seats, which forces them to write leaning on their knees, and the fact that they only have one board, where they see themselves separated, In the middle, subjects from both classes contribute to some boys’ slowness in learning.
“We have to say that it is our quality of work that attracts the trust of those in charge of education, because we monitor and record every detail of the children, in order to discover and define strategies for them to learn to read, write, calculate and interpret” detailed the entrepreneur, who revealed his intention to, in the future, hire (need) the services of a school psychologist, in order to help them in the most problematic cases. “Sometimes we notice that children carry with them some marks of adult life and this is a matter that goes beyond us. That’s why we cry for help from a specialist in school psychology, even if it’s just to guide us,” he stressed.
Still regarding the trust of parents and guardians, Professor MT said that it has evolved to a greater level, to the point that some are asking them to hold night literacy classes and accelerated training or modules. Who confirms this confidence is Branca Bernarda André whose 13-year-old sister, who attends 3rd grade, only started reading and writing when she entered Escolinha Cantinho da Sabedoria. “We trust his explanation a lot, because he and the other teachers are very attentive, it doesn’t take long for them to start writing, spelling or even reading, as is the case with my sister, who was very late in this chapter”, assured the person in charge .
Branca Bernarda André revealed that when the school was not open, she and other guardians enrolled their children in other schools, but, after it reopened, everyone enrolled the children in the Cantinho da Sabedoria again. Her sister Delfina António Cassilamwe, 13, admitted that, compared to other schools where she attended previous classes, she is learning more at Cantinho da Sabedoria, because the teachers are tireless. The teenager who is in 4th grade has recovered her dream of being a teacher to teach those who are afraid of learning.