School renovation improves learning environment for young tea estate children in Sri Lanka

(UNICEF) Five-year-old Kirthi and her friends were brimming with excitement as they entered their pre-school in June 2023.  Housed in an old tea estate storage building in central Sri Lanka, Thalawakale, Krithi’s preschool, Predo had undergone a complete overhaul, transforming the space into a safe and well-equipped area with access to water and sanitation.

The Predo preschool has functioned for over 30 years and currently provides early learning to 25 children. Without a dedicated building, it had operated out of various estate-owned, dilapidated structures. The preschool had often relocated whenever the structures became unavailable or unusable.

Ms. Ganeshan (39) has been teaching at Predo for the past 19 years and had often struggled due to the lack of a safe learning environment for her students.

“We   operated the school out of this old storage room for over a decade, but it was in a bad condition; the floor was broken, and the water would stream down the walls when it rained. The community assisted with temporary repairs but two years ago, a lorry hit the building, incurring heavy damages to the structure. So we were forced to move to the library building, but the facilities were minimal; there was no water, sanitation facilities or a space for the children to play,” she explains.

 But the plight of Ms. Ganeshan and her students changed through a UNICEF support. From April  through June 2023, the old storage room underwent extensive renovations to provide for the wellbeing of the children. The makeover included structural strengthening, repairs to the dilapidated roof, installation of windows for light and ventilation, new  sanitation facilities annexed to the classroom, conversion of the small veranda into a secure play area, and a colourful refurbishment.

Ms. Ganeshan busy teaching

“Thanks to the support provided by UNICEF and the community, we have renovated the old storage building and transformed it into a child-friendly space,” she adds.

Kirthi’s mother, Parameshwary (35), admires the transformation, “The new school has all the facilities for our children, and we know they are safe here. The children are also happy to go to school because the bright new classroom is very attractive. Kirthi was excited to return to school and to be reunited with her friends.”

The renovation of the preschool is part of a three-year UNICEF-led effort to uplift early childhood education by providing opportunities for safe, equitable, and quality education for children in the estate sector schools in Sri Lanka’s Central and Uva provinces.

“Preschool education in Sri Lanka, especially in the estate sector, faces many critical challenges including lack of access to preschools, trained education professionals, child-friendly infrastructure facilities, and the lack of a proper monitoring,” explains UNICEF Programme Officer, Sugath Adikaram.

 Apart from the infrastructure development, UNICEF seeks to forge partnerships to lay a strong and sustainable foundation to improve early education of children from the tea estate sector through this programme. As such, the implementation will also focus on  capacity building of teachers and community empowerment.

“Predo is one such preschool where we have successfully created a safe and nurturing environment. The unwavering commitment of the community played a huge role in this achievement,” Adikaram adds.

Currently, over 400 preschool teachers have received training for capacity development and 10 preschools have been renovated through the project.  Renovations of  10 more schools including upgrades to teaching materials are in the pipeline for 2024.

The programme is funded by the Japanese National Committee for UNICEF and is rolled out in partnership with the Early Childhood Development Units of the Central and Uva Provincial Councils.