Learning through Play

It is a cold Wednesday morning, a busy day for children and adults alike. Children are rushing to school trying to make it on time, while adults are trying to catch the next taxi to town where most people are employed.

For the 5-year-old Karabelo Thoko a student at Hlalele Preschool, rushing is not the case as she is never late for school. Every morning when Karabelo arrives at school, she radiates excitement. This is evident from her charming smile, the way she leaps over the school gate, and the sweet voice with which she calls out her friend's name.

Teacher Ntlaloe teaches at Hlalele Pre-School. Her school is located at a small community a few kilometers outside of Maseru City center named Ha-Hlalele. It was funded by Ireland Action Trust Project in collaboration with UNICEF Lesotho in 2019 and officially opened on the 19th of February 2020 by His Majesty King Letsie III. 

"Karabelo is always on time here at school. I am always available at school when the first child arrives, so I am her first contact,” Teacher Ntlaloe explains. She says Karabelo always greets with a lively smile, and while waiting for others to arrive, Karabelo goes straight to the outdoor play area where swings, slides and ladders are waiting for her. Free play in a child-friendly space is what the new Early Childhood Care and Development curriculum (ECCD) promotes.   

Teacher Ntlaloe says Karabelo is progressing well in all developmental domains. Her emotional and social skills and academic excellence are owed to the play-based curriculum that she Teacher Ntlaloe is implementing in her reception class. "Karabelo was not always this enthusiastic when she first arrived here in 2021. She was shy and she would even shy away from learning activities. But like all other children in her class, now she enjoys lessons as every lesson is based on play”, reveals Teacher Ntlaloe.

"Some of the activities that Karabelo enjoys the most are numeracy-based. She likes numbers, counting, solving number problems, measuring, spotting patterns, puzzles as well as adding and subtracting,” Teacher Ntlaloe adds. Because of the new curriculum that has aggregated learning and teaching activities according to age groups, Karabelo’s zest for play and learning has increased.

Her mother, ’Makarabelo Thokoa, mentioned that ever since Karabelo attended school, she likes to play and uses every opportunity and anything she comes across, to play. She says it seems everything they are taught at school is through singing and play. And she sings a lot! “Karabelo has become a much happier child and she loves school,” concluded ’Makarabelo.

"Play-based curriculum is very helpful – it has more activities that are integrated – numeracy, literacy, and life skills all together in a single activity. It makes the work easy for us teachers because its activities are purpose driven, and it has a teacher’s guide”, Teacher Ntlaloe says with a smile on her face.

The review of the curriculum was one of the key issues diagnosed for Lesotho to address, by Better Early Learning and Development at Scale (BELDS) diagnostic workshop held in Lesotho in 2029. BELDS was a Global Partnership for Education and UNICEF initiative. It was supported financially by GPE.