Strengths and challenges

What are the strengths of supplementary schools?

• Parents are more engaged and involved in supplementary schooling than they tend to be in mainstream education.
• Schools are flexible and are often able to respond to the learning needs of local communities better than mainstream schools can do.
• Different approaches to learning foster the development of students' self-esteem and confidence.
• Supplementary schools can promote the development of students' linguistic skills, cultural identity and religious awareness.
• Students are engaged in positive education and leisure activities outside 'the school'.
• The commitment and enthusiasm of staff and volunteers from the community is evident.
• Supplementary schools can contribute to improved behaviour and social skills among students.
• They can help reduce isolation by connecting children and families with others from a similar linguistic and cultural background.

What are the challenges of supplementary schools?

Most of the schools we work with suffer from a very similar range of problems:

• They lack secure, sustainable funding and often rely on small, short-term grants.
• They often lack teaching resources.
• They lack public recognition, particularly from mainstream schools.
• The quality of teaching can be variable.
• They are often dependent on the commitment of a few people, making them vulnerable to turnover of staff and volunteers.