Cooking Practical Lessons Made Easy for Learners at Gege Methodist Primary Thanks to World Vision’s Gifts-In-Kind programme

World Vision’s Development Facilitator for Gege Area Program, Nelisiwe Mhlanga, hands over cooking practical lesson supplies to Headteacher Jeremiah Dludlu and teacher Tiny Dlamini.

Thursday, February 20, 2025

Tiny Dlamini has been a Consumer Science subject teacher for many years and has often seen learners struggle when having practical examinations due to lack of adequate materials, particularly in a vulnerable rural school.

Now, working as Head of Department in Consumer Science at Gege Methodist Primary School, which is in rural Shiselweni Region in the southern part of Eswatini, a small country in the Southern Africa Region, things were no different.

Headteacher Jeremiah Dludlu and teacher Tiny Dlamini unpack donated supplies for cooking practical lessons, ensuring students have the necessary resources for hands-on learning.

The school has an enrolment of 592, with 68 of the learners enrolled for Consumer Science as one of their subject choices in the current year. With the school lacking some resources, conducting practical lessons and examinations, which require learners to cook practically to determine the success of their theoretical learning, was quite a difficult task. In this regard, receiving a donation of cooking materials for the learners from World Vision’s Gifts-In-Kind programme recently addressed a big need for the school.

“The cooking material donated has come at the right time and is going to be extremely helpful because we did not have enough material to do our practicals, so the children had to borrow from neighbours or even teachers during practical examinations,” said Tiny.

Teacher Tiny expressed the school’s appreciation for the donation, consisting of four sets of five cooking pots, 10 oven trays, 16 saucepans, 12 double grills, 10 dome covers, and 10 quarts dutch ovens, which are heavy-duty pots with tight-fitting lids that can hold one quart of liquid.

Headteacher Jeremiah Dludlu and teacher Tiny Dlamini sort through materials donated to support cooking practical lessons at the school.

She added: “We so much believe in our children that at their tender age they grasp a lot of skills, so this gift will boost the skills of those who would love to do catering as a business in the future, for example.”

The school’s Head Teacher, Jeremiah Dludlu, also expressed the same sentiments, saying the work done by World Vision in supporting schools in the country through various ways was very much appreciated. He said this helped create a conducive learning environment for children.