Provide Quality Care to Pre-School Children

The program

This essential education program supports children in the under resourced, yet fundamental, area of preschool education in Sri Lanka. This program is available in kindergartens in three areas, Badulla, Galle and Wattala. Volunteers may choose which location they wish to participate in this program, each site offering so much in terms of sights to see and experiences to enjoy. Early childhood education is sadly a seemingly forgotten area in Sri Lanka’s education system, lacking direction and guidelines, funding and enough quality teaching staff. This program provides volunteers with the opportunity to share their support, knowledge and skills with those children in need, helping to shape lives and ensure children get the best start. It is essential that volunteers are enthusiastic and flexible as this program needs motivated volunteers who love caring for children and are willing to dedicate themselves to a number of tasks to enable the successful running of the kindergartens. 

Goals of this Project:

• Provide education and support to Sri Lankan preschool children
• Improve the future prospects of the children of Sri Lanka
• Expose non-English speakers to native English speakers in order to improve pronunciation and conversational skills
• Enable inter-cultural exchange which benefits both students and international volunteers alike.

How you can help

Volunteers play an integral role in achieving the goals of this project, proving teaching assistance and quality care to help these wonderful children grow and thrive! The kindergarten programs gives volunteers a wonderful opportunity to associate with children from different backgrounds and ethnic communities. Volunteers will support the children in a multitude of ways, including helping by monitoring hygiene and educating the children about personal hygiene, assisting at meal times, cleaning, playing games and developing the children’s physical health through active movement. Please note that the kindergartens have holidays during April, August and December. Contact Love Volunteers to find out exact dates if planning to apply during these periods. While it is not a pre-requisite to joining this program, Love Volunteers highly recommend that all teaching and education volunteers complete the 120 hour TEFL course prior to volunteering.

Volunteers will contribute in a number of ways and can expect to undertake the following tasks:

• Arranging games, art, activities and playing with the children
• Helping the students to look after themselves
• Feeding the children and cleaning
• Teaching the students basic English, the alphabet and numeracy

A volunteer’s work day on this project will generally last between 4 and 6 hours and while we ask all volunteers to be flexible in this regard, a typical daily schedule is likely to go something like this:

7:30am Breakfast at your accommodation

8:30am Travel to the program site

8:45am Pre-start meeting with the program supervisor

9:00am VOLUNTEERING DUTIES START

Lunch is provided at the Volunteer Centre, normally from 12:00 - 1:30pm.

4:00pm VOLUNTEERING DUTIES END

Volunteers can be involved in optional activities from 4pm if they wish.

7:00pm Dinner at the Volunteer House

Evening Free time to relax

This program works with kindergartens and pre-school centres in three locations: Wattala, Galle and Badulla. Volunteers can note their preference for a particular location if they wish or allow our local team to assign them according to need and best fit.

Wattala lies some 10 mins away from the capital city of Colombo and contains enough diversity and interest to engage every visitor.

Galle is the historic jewel in Sri Lanka's crown. A UNESCO World Heritage site and famous for its eponymous Fort this port city is an absolute delight and rewards visitors with its architecture, culture and atmosphere. Transport to Galle is arranged by our local team and included in the program fee.

Badulla is an inland town, set amidst soaring mountains and hills covered in tea plantations. An eco-tourism hub and one of Sri Lanka's oldest towns this is an authentic and restful place in which to be based. Volunteers take a 12 hour scenic train ride from Colombo (the cost of which is included in the program fee) to Badulla. The train departs from Colombo Fort Train Station and the local team will make all arrangements and assist volunteers onto the train (the cost is included in the program fee). The journey takes participants through some of the most amazing scenery this beautiful country has to offer and is highly recommended.