A summer school kids actually want to attend | Karim Abouelnaga

Translator: Clarence Bitegeko Reviewer: Nelson Simfukwe

Getting a college education

Kupata elimu ya chuo

is a 20-year investment.

ni uwekezaji wa miaka 20

When you're growing up poor,

Unapokulia katika umaskini,

you're not accustomed to thinking that far ahead.

unakuwa hujazoea kufikiria mbele kiasi hicho

Instead, you're thinking about where you're going to get your next meal

Badala yake, unafikiria wapi utapata mlo unaofuata

and how your family is going to pay rent that month.

na namna gani familia yako italipa kodi ya pango kwa mwezi huo

Besides, my parents and my friends' parents

Mbali na hilo, wazazi wangu na wazazi wa rafiki zangu

seemed to be doing just fine driving taxis and working as janitors.

walionekana kuwa vizuri tu wakiendesha teksi na kufanya kazi za usafi na uhudumu.

It wasn't until I was a teenager

Ni mpaka nilipokuwa kijana

when I realized I didn't want to do those things.

nilipogundua sikutaka kufanya kazi zile.

By then, I was two-thirds of the way through my education,

Wakati huo, nilikuwa theluthi mbili ya muda wa kumaliza elimu yangu

and it was almost too late to turn things around.

na ilikuwa bado kidogo tu ningechelewa kufanya mabadiliko.

When you grow up poor, you want to be rich.

Unapokulia umaskini, unataka kuwa tajiri.

I was no different.

Sikuwa tofauti

I'm the second-oldest of seven,

Mi ni wa pili kuzaliwa kati ya saba,

and was raised by a single mother on government aid

na nililelewa na mama pekee kwa msaada wa serikali

in Queens, New York.

mjini Queens, New York.

By virtue of growing up low-income,

Kwa sababu ya kukulia kwenye kipato cha chini,

my siblings and I went to some of New York City's

mimi na ndugu zangu tulikwenda

kwenye baadhi ya shule za umma zilizo duni sana katika Jiji la New York

most struggling public schools.

I had over 60 absences when I was in seventh grade,

Nilikosa shule zaidi ya mara 60 nilipokuwa darasa la 7

because I didn't feel like going to class.

kwa sababu sikujisikia kwenda darasani.

My high school had a 55 percent graduation rate,

Katika shule yangu ya sekondari, kwa wastani ni 55% walihitimu

and even worse,

na kibaya zaidi,

only 20 percent of the kids graduating

ni 20% tu ya waliohitimu

were college-ready.

walikuwa tayari kwa chuo.

When I actually did make it to college,

Nilipoingia chuo,

I told my friend Brennan

nilimwambia rafiki yangu Brennan

how our teachers would always ask us to raise our hands

jinsi gani walimu wetu walituambia tunyooshe mikono juu

if we were going to college.

kama tulitaka kwenda chuo.

I was taken aback when Brennan said,

Nilishtushwa pale Brennan aliposema,

"Karim, I've never been asked that question before."

"Karim, sijawahi kuulizwa swali hilo kabla."

It was always, "What college are you going to?"

Daima lilikuwa, "Ni chuo gani unakwenda?"

Just the way that question is phrased

Namna tu swali lilivyoulizwa

made it unacceptable for him not to have gone to college.

ilifanya kuwa jambo lisiliokubalika kwa yeye kutokwenda chuo.

Nowadays I get asked a different question.

Sikuhizi naulizwa swali tofauti.

"How were you able to make it out?"

"Uliwezaje kufanikiwa kutoka?"

For years I said I was lucky,

Kwa miaka nilisema nilikuwa na bahati,

but it's not just luck.

Lakini haikuwa bahati tu.

When my older brother and I graduated from high school

Mimi na kaka yangu mkubwa tulipomaliza sekondari

at the very same time

katika wakati mmoja

and he later dropped out of a two-year college,

na baadaye akaacha chuo chuo cha miaka miwili

I wanted to understand why he dropped out

Nilitaka kujua kwanini aliacha

and I kept studying.

na niliendelea kusoma

It wasn't until I got to Cornell as a Presidential Research Scholar

Ni mpaka nilipofika Cornell kama Mwafunzi wa Utafiti wa Kirais

that I started to learn about the very real educational consequences

ndipo nilipoanza kujifunza juu ya matokeo halisi ya kielimu

of being raised by a single mother on government aid

yatokanayo na malezi ya mama pekee kwa msaada wa serikali

and attending the schools that I did.

na kusoma shule nilizosoma.

That's when my older brother's trajectory began to make complete sense to me.

Pale ndipo njia ya kaka yangu mkubwa ilipoanza kuleta maana kamili kwangu.

I also learned that our most admirable education reformers,

Nilijifunza pia kuwa wanamaboresho elimu wetu maarufu

people like Arne Duncan, the former US Secretary of Education,

watu kama Arne Duncan, Waziri wa zamani wa Elimu Marekani

or Wendy Kopp, the founder of Teach For America,

au Wendy Kopp, mwanzilishi wa Teach For America,

had never attended an inner city public school like I had.

hawajawahi kusoma kwenye shule za umma za ndani ndani ya jiji kama mimi.

So much of our education reform is driven by a sympathetic approach,

Kwa hiyo maboresho mengi ya elimu yanaendeshwa na mtazamo wa kihuruma

where people are saying,

ambapo watu wanasema

"Let's go and help these poor inner city kids,

"Twende tukasaidie hawa watoto maskini wa ndani ndani ya jiji

or these poor black and Latino kids,"

au hawa watoto maskini weusi na wakilatino

instead of an empathetic approach,

badala ya mtazamo wa uelewa,

where someone like me, who had grown up in this environment, could say,

ambapo mtu ka' mimi, aliyekulia katika mazingira haya, ningeweza kusema,

"I know the adversities that you're facing

"Najua taabu mnazokumbana nazo

and I want to help you overcome them."

na ninataka kuwasaidia kuzishinda."

Today when I get questions about how I made it out,

Leo nipatapo maswali kuhusu jinsi nilivyofanikiwa kutoka,

I share that one of the biggest reasons

Natoa sababu moja wapo kubwa

is that I wasn't ashamed to ask for help.

kuwa sikuwa na aibu kuomba msaada.

In a typical middle class or affluent household,

Katika tabaka la hali ya kati au kaya tajiri,

if a kid is struggling,

kama mwanafunzi atakuwa na shida

there's a good chance that a parent or a teacher will come to their rescue

kuna uwezekano mkubwa kuwa mzazi au mwalimu atakuja kumsaidia

even if they don't ask for help.

hata asipoomba msaada.

Lakini, kama mtoto huyo amekulia katika umaskini

However, if that same kid is growing up poor

and doesn't ask for help,

na hataomba msaada,

there's a good chance that no one will help them.

kuna uwezekano mkubwa hakuna atakayemsaidia.

There are virtually no social safety nets available.

Hakuna wigo wa usalama wa kijamii unaopatikana.

So seven years ago,

Kwa hiyo miaka saba iliyopita,

I started to reform our public education system

Nilianza kuboresha mfumo wetu wa elimu ya umma

shaped by my firsthand perspective.

nikichukua taswira ya mtazamo wangu wa moja kwa moja.

And I started with summer school.

Na nilianza na shule ya kiangazi.

Research tells us that two-thirds of the achievement gap,

Utafiti unatuambia kuwa theluthi mbili ya pengo la ufaulu,

which is the disparity in educational attainment

ambayo ni tofauti katika upatikanaji wa elimu

between rich kids and poor kids

kati ya watoto matajiri na watoto maskini

or black kids and white kids,

au watoto weusi na watoto weupe

could be directly attributed to the summer learning loss.

inaweza kuhusishwa moja kwa moja na upotevu wa elimu kipindi cha kiangazi

In low-income neighborhoods, kids forget almost three months

Katika kaya maskini, watoto husahau karibu miezi mitatu

of what they learned during the school year

ya walichosoma kipindi cha mwaka wa shule

over the summer.

wakati wa kiangazi.

They return to school in the fall,

Wanarudi shule kipindi cha vuli,

and their teachers spend another two months

na walimu wao wanatumia miezi miwili mingine

reteaching them old material.

kurudia tena kuwafundisha.

That's five months.

Hiyo ni miezi mitano.

The school year in the United States is only 10 months.

Mwaka wa shule Marekani ni miezi 10 tu.

If kids lose five months of learning every single year,

Kama watoto watapoteza miezi 5 ya kujifunza kila mwaka

that's half of their education.

hiyo ni nusu ya elimu yao.

Half.

Nusu.

If kids were in school over the summer, then they couldn't regress,

Kama watoto wangekuwa shule kipindi cha kiangazi, wasingerudi nyuma,

but traditional summer school is poorly designed.

lakini shule ya kiangazi iliyozoeleka imeundwa vibaya.

For kids it feels like punishment,

Kwa watoto inaonekana kama adhabu,

and for teachers it feels like babysitting.

na kwa walimu inaonekana kama uyaya.

But how can we expect principals to execute an effective summer program

Lakini tunatarajia vipi walimu wakuu kutekeleza programu madhubuti ya kiangazi

when the school year ends the last week of June

ikiwa mwaka wa shule unaisha juma la mwisho la Juni

and then summer school starts just one week later?

na shule ya kiangazi inaanza juma moja tu baadaye?

There just isn't enough time to find the right people,

Yaani hakuna wakati wa kutosha kupata watu sahihi

sort out the logistics,

kuratibu ugavi,

and design an engaging curriculum that excites kids and teachers.

na kuunda mtaala mahsusi unaowavutia watoto na walimu.

But what if we created a program over the summer

Lakini vipi kama tungetengeneza programu ya kiangazi

that empowered teachers as teaching coaches

ambayo ingewapa nguvu walimu kama makocha wa kufundisha

to develop aspiring educators?

kuendeleza waelimishaji watarajiwa?

What if we empowered college-educated role models

Vipi kama tungewawezesha wasomi wa chuo wa mfano

as teaching fellows

kuwa wakufunzi wenza

to help kids realize their college ambitions?

kuwasaidia watoto kutambua matarajio yao ya chuo?

What if empowered high-achieving kids

Vipi kama tungewawezesha watoto wenye ufaulu mkubwa kuwa washauri

as mentors to tutor their younger peers

kuwafundisha vijana wenzao

and inspire them to invest in their education?

na kuwahamasisha kuwekeza katika elimu yao?

What if we empowered all kids as scholars,

Vipi kama tungewawezesha watoto wote kama wasomi,

asked them what colleges they were going to,

tukiwauliza ni vyuo gani wangependa kwenda,

designed a summer school they want to attend

tukiunda shule ya kiangazi wanayotaka kwenda

to completely eliminate the summer learning loss

kuondoa kabisa upotevu wa elimu kipindi cha kiangazi

and close two-thirds of the achievement gap?

na kufunga theluthi mbili ya pengo la ufaulu?

By this summer, my team will have served over 4,000 low-income children,

Kiangazi hiki, timu yangu itakuwa imehudum ia zaidi ya watoto 4,000 wa kaya maskini,

trained over 300 aspiring teachers

imefundisha zaidi ya walimu watarajiwa 300

and created more than 1,000 seasonal jobs

na kuunda zaidi ya kazi 1,000 za msimu

across some of New York City's most disadvantaged neighborhoods.

katika baadhi ya vitongoji vilivyo nyuma vya jiji la New York

(Applause)

(Makofi na Vifijo)

And our kids are succeeding.

Na watoto wetu wanafanikiwa

Two years of independent evaluations

Miaka miwili ya uthamini binafsi

inatuambia kuwa watoto wetu wameondoa upotevu wa elimu wa kiangazi

tell us that our kids eliminate the summer learning loss

and make growth of one month in math

na wameongeza mwezi mmoja kwenye Hisabati

and two months in reading.

na miezi miwili kwenye kusoma.

Kwa hiyo badala ya kurudi shule kipindi cha vuli wakiwa miezi mitatu nyuma,

So instead of returning to school in the fall three months behind,

they now go back four months ahead in math

sasa hivi wanarudi wakiwa miezi minne mbele kwenye Hisabati

and five months ahead in reading.

na miezi mitano mbele kwenye kusoma.

(Applause)

(Makofi na Vifijo)

Ten years ago, if you would have told me

Miaka 10 iliyopita, kama ungeniambia

that I'd graduate in the top 10 percent of my class from an Ivy League institution

kuwa ningehitimu katika 10% bora ya darasa langu kutoka taasisi ya Ivy League

and have an opportunity to make a dent on our public education system

na kuwa na fursa ya kubadilisha japo kiduchu tu mfumo wetu wa elimu ya umma

just by tackling two months of the calendar year,

kwa kukabiliana na miezi miwili tu ya mwaka wa kalenda,

I would have said,

ningesema,

"Nah. No way."

"Hapana, haiwezekani"

What's even more exciting

Cha kusisimua ziaidi

is that if we can prevent five months of lost time

ni kuwa kama tunaweza kuzuia miezi mitano ya upotevu wa muda

just by redesigning two months,

kwa kuunda upya miezi miwili

imagine the possibilities that we can unlock

fikiria fursa tunazoweza kufumbua

by tackling the rest of the calendar year.

kwa kukabiliana na miezi yote iliyobaki ya mwaka wa kalenda

Thank you.

Asanteni

(Applause)

(Makofi na Vifijo)