Transforming Our City Together (TOCT) Conference 2011 V

On the second day of TOCT, a visit to the La Salle Learning Centre at 52-K, Penang Road

was specially arranged for the Projek Harap Melaka team.

Named after John Baptist de La Salle, the centre is focused on "facilitating and providing opportunities for children to grow skills for control over their learning and living an envoronment founded on a humanistic philosophy and a careful methodology."

That morning, the founder of the centre Bro John D'Cruz was not around. Receiving us was the assistant coordinator Mr Stephen Saw. He explained to us their two-pronged learning approach and showed us the different facilities and simple materials to impart the ten skills namely 1.talking, 2.listening, 3.remembering, 4.spelling, 5.reading, 6.writing, 7.understanding, 8.counting, calculating and problem solving, 9.drawing and 10.doing craft.

"During the first half of the daily two-hour session, the learner practises the assigned three basic skills and during the next hour keeps to enrichment activities. The facilitators keep regular track of each learner's progress through a careful diagnosis of his level of competences, intervention and facilitation, monitoring and evaluation at each stage."

By this alternative methodology of learning, children who are unable to cope with the formal school system can work on their own, at their own pace and level, and learn to be independent. Their learning insecurities are minimised and eventually eradicated. As a result, they return to their school work with increased enthusiasm and are able to cope with their school environment.

We were led into a room where the students have one of their favorite activities--doing craft.

With just a little bit of creativity, a fast food paper bag was turned into an owl and a cake holder became a clock.

These educationally and socio-economically deprived students also have access to computers

and musical instruments.

The La Salle Learning Centre has been blessing underprivileged children since 1984 and their long experience with learners with "different learning styles" is now the foundation for an equally important approach with adult learners. After this short but interesting guided visit, the Projek Harap team had a better idea to run various activities for the preschoolers.