English Teacher and Student Resource Center: The Proposal

Above are pictures of the classroom that will become the resource center. The English grammar posters were created by Ak-Tilek faculty. Bars will be installed on the windows after 1/4 of Partnership funds are obtained. Below is my proposal for the resource center, approved by Peace Corps. Since I was unable to copy the Budget of the proposal directly to the blog, I have supplied a shortened version for your inspection. To the left, under the Links column, is the the DONATE NOW option. This link will take you directly to the Partnership projects in Central Asia. From there, you can select my project, and donate by credit card through secure connection. If, for some reason, the DONATE NOW link does not work, you can just go to the Official Peace Corps website and select the DONATE option from the right hand column.

Thank you for taking the time to read my proposal. Any small donation would be greatly appreciated! If you have any questions about the project, please don't hesitate to email me. Also, if you donate and would like to have your name on a poster listing all the donors that will be hung in the center after construction, please email me personally.


I. Proposal Summary

Ak-Tilek Secondary School
English Teacher and Student Resource Center



Ak-Tilek Secondary Public School
Internacionalnoye Village, Issik-Ata Region, Chui Oblast, Kyrgyz Republic
Total Request: $1,910.24
Peace Corps Volunteer: Rick Gotwald
U.S. Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Community Leader: Kubanichbeck Toktorbekovich



The current state of English education materials in Kyrgyzstan, especially those at village schools, is disastrously low. Village teachers have no access to additional materials other than whatever books their school can provide, if any. Even if a teacher does have access to a textbook, it is likely that only a handful of his or her students can afford to purchase their own copy. Teachers in the Kyrgyz Republic purchase all of their own supplies, including paper, chalk, rulers, and scissors. Additional items such as visual aids and activity booklets are made at home with purchased materials. Also, the extreme rarity of photo-copiers forces teachers to spend most of their class time writing vocabulary and grammar exercises on the black board. Having no outside consultation or help, teachers rely on their own knowledge and creativity when writing lesson plans. Very often a village school will have only one English teacher on faculty who is expected to teach hundreds of students without the necessary teaching materials taken for granted in other countries.

Ak-Tilek school and the surrounding Issik-Ata regional schools are an accurate example of these conditions.
There are 53 secondary schools in the region, educating over 30,000 students. There are also over 80 English teachers in the region. The goal of the proposed project, initially suggested by the regional government and now encouraged by Ak-Tilek faculty, is to create an English Resource Center at Ak-Tilek school for both teachers and students of the Issik-Ata region. Students and teachers would be invited on certain days of each month to examine all materials in the center (including textbooks, workbooks, flash cards, maps, visual aids, and audio cassettes) and make copies of them for use in their own classrooms. The copies would be made using a computer, equipped with a scanner and printer, and two audio cassette players obtained through Peace Corps Partnership.

A substantial contribution from Ak-Tilek and its faculty have already been made in the form of textbooks and workbooks, visual aids and English games. Also Ak-Tilek has agreed to install a metal door with a pad lock and metal bars on the windows of the third floor room designated as the center.

From Peace Corps Partnership, Ak-Tilek school requests funds in order to establish this resource center. In order to succeed in this task, the project will include the purchase of several items: 1) two computers, 2) a computer scanner, 3) a printer, 4) a dual deck audio cassette player, 5) English textbooks and workbooks, 6) a large white board with markers, 7) English language activity CD-ROMs.


II. Background Information

Internacionalnoye is a small village located approximately 40 kilometers from the national capital of Bishkek and approximately 15 kilometers from the Issik-Ata region (similar to U.S. state counties) center of Kant. Issik-Ata is one of 6 regions in the Chui Oblast (similar to U.S. states).

Ak-Tilek is a relatively large village school, enrolling over 500 students from Internacionalnoye and the two neighboring villages of Bos-Barmak and Jarbashy. Foreign language study is a major focus of the school. Because both Kyrgyz and Russian students attend, all students have the option of having their lessons taught in either the Kyrgyz or Russian language (both the national languages of Kyrgyzstan). However, all students of Russian conducted classes are required to take Kyrgyz language lessons and vice-versa. Furthermore, all 529 students study English as a foreign language.

The English Department at Ak-Tilek School was formed in 1991, when the administration switched the foreign language requirement from German to English. Since then, the school has made impressive strides to expand and improve this department. In 1995, the American based Soros Foundation built a library at the school, donating books on a wide range of subjects, including English.

Every year, the Issik-Ata region of the Chui Oblast holds Olympiad competitions among high school students in a number of different subjects. For the past 10 years, Ak-Tilek’s students have made outstanding performances in the English competition. For the last six years, they have swept the ninth, tenth, and eleventh grade competitions, taking each of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes. After yet another impressive performance this year at the January Olympiad, the Issik-Ata regional government suggested that Ak-Tilek English teachers develop a strategy to aid colleagues at other regional schools in language teaching methodologies. Ak-Tilek English faculty, along with the school’s Director, decided to create this English resource center for both teachers and students of the Issik-Ata region.


III. Proposal Guidelines

1. Project is Community Initiated, Directed, and Sustainable
As stated earlier, this project was initially suggested at the regional level after a series of strong performances at the regional academic Olympiad by English students at Ak-Tilek school. Then, the Director and Assistant Director of Ak-Tilek approached the English faculty and the current Peace Corps Volunteer about the viability of developing such a project.
Since then, preparations for the center have begun and been directed by Ak-Tilek faculty. All English books donated by the Soros Foundation along with personal materials donated by teachers themselves have been moved to the Volunteer’s classroom for safe keeping until the metal bars are installed on the windows of the room designated for the center. Also, many hours on the part of faculty have been spent, using school purchased materials, building and painting English grammar posters to hang in the center (see pictures). Finally, maintenance staff been instructed, also using school materials, to construct metal bars for the windows and a metal door with a pad lock on the center room to protect against theft.
Ak-Tilek Director Kubanichbeck Toktorbekovich has already informed the regional government that preparations have begun for the center. Once funds are obtained and the purchases made, he will, at one of the monthly regional school board meetings, announce that the resource center has been completed and will designate a time to invite all English teachers to visit and learn how to use the new equipment. An introductory seminar will be held, led by the Peace Corps Volunteer and other Ak-Tilek faculty, to explain the purpose and rules of the center. Because the summer holiday is approaching, this initial seminar will most likely be held at the beginning of the fall 2006 school semester, which begins September, 1. From that point on, every month teachers will be invited to the center to peruse materials and make copies. This process will continue long after the Peace Corps Volunteer has left the site. During these scheduled visits, at least one Ak-Tilek faculty member will always be present.
At Ak-Tilek itself, a schedule will be constructed by faculty and students as to certain times which English students and Ak-Tilek faculty of other subjects may visit the center. During scheduled times, students may use the computer for educational purposes only (such as typing papers or playing an interactive English CD-ROM purchased by Peace Corps Partnership funds) and teachers may make copies using the scanner and printer. At least one teacher will be present to proctor at all times.
In terms of computer maintenance, a prominent community figure and Ak-Tilek school teacher, Tolorygeldi Aidarbekov, who operates a private internet café out of his home, will be competent in most cases. In cases in which he cannot determine the problem, he can travel to nearby Bishkek, where there are an abundance of IT specialists who will fix the computer for a moderate fee, which will be paid by Ak-Tilek.

2. Community Contribution
Ak-Tilek school has contributed 42% of the project though the donation of books from its own Soros Foundation Library, the donations of English games and flash cards from teachers, the creation of English tenses placards, and also the pledge to construct metal bars on the windows of the center. The construction of these metal bars will begin after one fourth (approximately $475) of the requested Partnership money has been obtained. (See “Budget” for more details and monetary amounts.)

3. Indicators of Success
Quantitative indicators of success will include the following three aspects:
1) English Resource Center for Teachers and Students is opened in the fall of 2007
2) All purchases described below are made and installed in the Center
3) An introductory seminar is held for all Issik-Ata region English teachers at which they will learn how to use the new equipment

Qualitatively, through the use of this center, English teachers will get new ideas for classroom activities and use them in their own classrooms and students at Ak-Tilek and throughout the region will experience new ways to learn English and thus take a more active interest in the subject.


4. Purchases
Computer Equipment. The computers, scanner, and printer are necessary to the center’s success. Visiting teachers will be able to peruse the available printed materials, scan them to the computer, print as many copies as they please, and then take them back to their own schools for use in their classrooms. Also, students from Ak-Tilek and throughout the Issik-Ata region may use the computers for educational purposes, including enjoying the interactive English language CD-ROMs which will be purchased from the department store, “Zum,” in Bishkek. All other computer equipment, including a surge protector and the necessary cables, will be purchased from the company, “Inter Alliance Ltd.” in Bishkek.

Classroom Materials. The Panasonic stereo and microphones will allow the Volunteer to record English dialogues with other Volunteers from neighboring villages. Visiting teachers may then bring their own cassette tapes and make copies of these dialogues for use in their own classrooms. Also, students may make record tapes themselves for use at home. The stereo will be purchased at the “Tokyo Store” in Bishkek and the microphones will be purchased at “Zum.” The large white board will be a great addition to the center, since the current chalkboard is quite small and extremely old. Also, since all future English language seminars at Ak-Tilek will be held in this room, a more appropriate writing surface is necessary. The markers and the white board will be purchased at the “Kainak” store in Bishkek.

Books and Tapes. The books and tapes will be available to all who visit the center and pages may be duplicated using the computer, scanner, and printer. The books and tapes will be purchased from the bookstores, “Odyssey” and “Raritet” in Bishkek.


5. Budget

Computer Equipment.
M/B mATX ASROCK P4VM8 Computer (2) - $900
HP ScanJet 4370 Scanner - $130
HP LaserJet 1020 Printer - $150
Microsoft Windows Operating System - $150
Surge Protector and Cables - $52.72

Computer Equipment Subtotal: - 1,382.72


Classroom Materials.
Panasonic SA-VK31 Stereo - $245
Large White Dry Erase Board - $90
Microphones and Markers - $11.85

Classroom Materials Subtotal: - $346.85


Books and Audio Tapes - $180.67
Includes many dictionaries, work
books, methodology books, and dialogue
English audio tapes.

Total Funds Requested: - $1,910.24


6. No Additional Funding
The Ak-Tilek school has been informed and understands that there will be no additional funding beyond the authorized amount on this proposal as submitted.

7. Proper Use of Funds
It is clear to the Ak-Tilek school that Partnership funds are to be used only for the costs associated with the project.


So now, if you like what you see and you have no questions for me, please click on the DONATE NOW tab to your right under the Links column and contribute whatever you can. You will helping to create a resource center that will change the lives of many teachers and students.

Thank you for your time,

Rick