Education – creativity and culture as drivers of change

The «Ayeke» school, which includes both a kindergarten and a primary school, offers children in the village of Koko a broad, culturally grounded education. Alongside the standard subjects, curious pupils can broaden their knowledge and experience through optional classes introduced by the foundation. These include sports, music and cultural activities, as well as botanical projects. During the dry season, for example, herb gardens and tree nurseries are watered around the well, where clean water is pumped by hand.

In 1996, Karin Ostertag, a trained primary school teacher, founded a kindergarten and a primary school together with parents of the village of Koko in central Benin. The school is called «Ayeke», which in Yoruba means «life cares for us». Today about 30 five-year-olds attend the kindergarten, where they begin learning the country’s official language, French. The primary school has six classes with a total of about 300 children. Each class has its own school building with a storage room for materials. The school also includes a head office, an accounts office, a library, a stationery shop, a secretary’s office, a kitchen, a manual water pump, as well as a rooms for drawing, crafts and computer studies. In total, eleven staff members are employed; their salaries are funded through school fees paid by the parents.

In addition to the regular curiculum, optional classes take place every day, encouraging children to to be active in sports, be creative, and develop environmental awareness. In this way, pupils discover abilities beyond the work in the courtyard and in the fields. The school grounds are home to 12 beehives, which the children help care for under the supervision of a beekeeper. High-performing pupils receive targeted support, while those who need additional help are given additional assistance. The school also develops various teaching materials itself, adapting them to village life and local culture. These playfully designed books for drawing, math, and reading help children learn about the local history and strengthen their sense of identity. The children love them. The foundation covers the costs of the optional classes and the development of these teaching materials.

The consistently good results in the final national examinations after the sixth class are a source of pride for the foundation and have earned Ayeke an excellent reputation in the region. In 2025, all 37 pupils in the sixth class passed the entrance exam to secondary school.

In addition to the Ayeke school, the foundation has also supported the development of a public secondary school (now four years in operation) and a three-year high school, and continues to support the students there. This has not only created more than 80 state-funded jobs, but also allowed optional classes such as beekeeping, botany, environmental protection and tree nurseries to continued there.

Looking ahead, new optional classes such as computer courses and graphic design are planned at the nearby youth centre, as the secondary school currently lacks electricity. (As a side note: can one imagine in Switzerland a secondary school or a high school with 750 pupils without electricity?). To address this, the Foundation Tobé Benin is seeking donations.