Community Libraries

Within the community library the community teacher focuses on remedial language and math support, on spurring the reading fluency and providing second language support. The teachers in the community libraries are fluent in the children tribal language and the medium language in school. Therefore, the children are able to introduce their home languages into the class as well as receive bilingual support. Role play and theatre are an essential part of the class, as they keep children motivated and help in language development. These activities are often engaged in more than four or five languages, leading to on the one hand strengthening a group identity through home language training, but on the other hand also attempting to forge respect towards the larger, multi-ethnic, multi-religious society. This is especially important in the context of an exclusivist ethnic and linguistic discourse. Efforts are made to connect the theatre and storytelling activities with the school curriculum. Other activities engaged in the community libraries include sports, art, comics and singing.