In her mother's footsteps: family dedication to early childhood education

Marie Laure Ariki is so dedicated to education in Vanuatu that she often worked as a kindergarten teacher for free.

Before World Vision’s Strengthening Early Childhood Care and Education (SECCE) project started in her community, Mrs Ariki often earned a low income or sometimes no income as a kindergarten teacher.

Instead it was the love of teaching children that kept her working despite the financial pressure.

“Now with the program, I am entitled to fortnightly payment of my wages compared to the past”, she said.

The SECCE program provides teacher training and trains kindergarten committees in how to financially manage the school in terms of maintenance and paying teachers. It also helps them understand their roles and responsibilities including fundraising and being champions of early childhood care and education within communities.

“Now I am very grateful to see community members having a clear understanding of child education that begins at home, then kindergarten and most importantly the in-kind support from the communities to the school is so impressive," Mrs Ariki added.

The program has had a big influence not only on Mrs Ariki, but also on her daughter Rosine, who shared, “I have assisted my mother in the classroom for a long time and I’ve decided to follow her footsteps and become a teacher. The teacher training program has taught me new teaching methods and also how to manage an overcrowded classroom. There is a big difference now compared to the strategies and methods of teaching my mum used in the past. Rosine’s mother is happy to provide her with assistance, even participating in every SECCE workshop to help her improve her teaching skills.

The SECCE program is supported by the Ministry of Education and Training and the Australian and New Zealand governments.