The first day of school…and the rest of their lives

Classroom doors opened for over 2,500 ICM Jumpstart Kindergarten students on 4 June. As well as the new faces in the classroom, there are other changes this academic year. Our Jumpstart Kindergartens are now “Dual Stream”, meaning we run kindergartens in the morning and afternoon! Last year, ICM ran a pilot project to asses the impact of running dual stream schools, and were delighted to discover that attendance and academic results were the same or better for the half day model. All children enjoy the hot lunch served at midday. In the 2012-2013 school year we are implementing the changes in all the kindergartens which means at NO additional cost to sponsors, an additional five to 10 children are being educated and fed each day! We are extremely excited about this initiative. Attending school allows the children to take the first step away from a life of poverty. Not only are the over 2500 children in ICM’s 85 Jumpstart schools starting school, they are starting the rest of their lives.