ABDF

• Essential Facts:
• Location: Kotagala, Sri Lanka
• Principal:Mrs. Vedhanayagam
• Number of Students:40 - 50 students (less as you get to the higher grades)
• Grades taught:1-12
• Number of English teachers:4

Background Information:

The area abounds with natural beauty.

Kotagala (ko-TA-ga-la) is a town of around 5,000 families about 8km (5 miles) north of Hatton, and is smack-dab in the center of Sri Lanka’s tea-growing region. As Kotagala is at such a high altitude (1,302 meters or 4,274 feet) the climate is much cooler and more comfortable than the oft-times steamy coast. The mountainous region is known for its beautiful tea estates as well as the natural wonder call World’s End; a spectacular escarpment plunging 1,050 meters (more than 3,000 feet!) to the plains below.

A tea plantation

The residents of Kotagala and the surrounding tea estates are Tamil of Indian descent, brought by the British to work the tea plantations around 200 years ago. In practical terms this means that education and educational facilities have largely been ignored by the government until recently. As a result, Estate Tamils have the lowest educational levels in Sri Lanka, a hard truth that this teaching project seeks to help ameliorate.

Kotagala Tamil Maha Vidyalayam:

• Kotagala is the town, of course.
• Tamil means that most classes are taught in Tamil, the remainder in English.
• Maha means “big,” in this case signifying that it is the main school for the town.
• Vidyalayam (vid-YA-la-yam) is Tamil for “school.”

Kotagala is looking to increase its number of English teachers in order to bring class size down to a reasonable level.

Requirements and job description:

Requirements include both a certification and working experience in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL aka EFL), OR 5 years experience teaching in a school environment, OR some combination of the two.

Mrs. Vedhanayagam, school principal.

The candidate must be willing to commit to six months at Kotagala; a stay of less than one term does little good for the students.

Ladies will wear sari in accordance to Sri Lankan custom. Don’t worry, it’ll be fun. You’ll be taken shopping and assisted in putting them on, and soon you’ll be an expert. Think of it as a challenge! Gentlemen, or those of you pretending to be gentlemen, will wear slacks and a dress shirt, according to Sri Lanka custom.

As you can see, the tea plants come right down to the school property.

The job will involve teaching a full round of classes, generally starting at 8:00 in the morning, and ending at 2:00, Monday - Friday (Sri Lankans eat a late lunch by our standards). There are a total of 8 classes taught per day, at about 45 minutes each. Yup, it’s a full day.

Classes will be taught with the annual national exams in mind. Rightly or wrongly, these exams will determine each child’s educational future. This does not necessarily mean that every session must be taught to the test; as long as the curriculum is generally followed and all bases covered, there should be plenty of opportunity to creatively teach the students what they need to know. Unfortunately at this time, Kotagala is only looking for instruction in English so there is no opportunity to teach other subjects such as science or math, in English. However, teachers who feel qualified to teach English should not shy away from this opportunity, regardless of what subject they might teach in the US.

One of the two main school buildings.

The prospective teacher must self-fund his or her stay in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately the ABDF does not currently have a budget big enough to support teachers, although ABDF is actively seeking out sponsors for this project.

In return, the school will supply:

Kotagala has on-site teacher housing, one unit of which will be made available to each volunteer teacher. Lodging will be basic but comfortable. You will have a private bathroom with Western toilet. Bathtubs are a rarity in Sri Lanka, so you will have a shower. Water is almost always unheated, but in a tropical climate, hot water is usually the LAST thing you want. You will be supplied with basic kitchen necessities: a gas burner, pots, pans, etc, as well as furniture. You will free to do your own cooking, or to make arrangements at a local eatery.

Classrooms are typically in this open-air style.

Although it isn’t something we can specifically guarantee, Sri Lankans are known for their hospitality. Chances are you will receive more invitations to meals than you can possibly eat, more offers to tour around the area than you will have time for, and multiple offers to visit other towns and stay with families. The land of Sri Lanka is beautiful, but the people make this place an amazing experience. If you are relaxed, open, and interested, you will have the opportunity to get to know Sri Lanka in a way that very, VERY few foreigners ever have.

Bennett’s personal impressions:

One of the four English teachers.

“I was pretty impressed with Kotagala; they’ve done a lot to help educate their kids, given the lack of support from the government and other funding agencies. I found the school buildings to be in decent repair, and the classrooms to be clean and well-ordered. I did notice that the school suffers from overcrowding; as is often typical in the States; more and more students enroll, while financial support gets less and less. Mrs. Vedhanayagam (ved-ahn-ah-YA-gahm), the principal, seems an able administrator, and has done a lot with few resources.”

A typical classroom.

“The kids were great, and as is typical here, you can’t help but fall in love with them. In general, the students here are polite, disciplined and eager to learn. Or at least they seem that way to a foreigner! Assuming s/he is (or they are) up to the challenge, teaching at Kotagala would be an amazing experience. I can hardly wait to see how the school will benefit."

Some of YOUR potential students!

Interested? Please contact ABDF.org as soon as possible! We’d love to hear from you!