Ahfiwe school

This is a journal of creative writing from pupils of the AHFIWE supplementary school which was set up by Ansel Wong in the 1970s in order to raise the attainment levels of African-Caribbean children. During this period, many supplementary schools were set up as many Black parents were dissatisfied with the British education system. In 1971, Bernard Coard published the pamphlet entitled, 'How the West Indian child is made Educationally subnormal in the British school system'. The pamphlet highlighted the disproportionate numbers of West Indian children being labelled as educationally subnormal.
Traditional education was also found to have hampered the development of young people through inadequacies in teaching quality, therefore the Ahfiwe school was set up in 19 74 with a one year grant from the Community Relations Commission, Saturday classes were held at Santley School. From 1974-1976 Wong was the Education Co-ordinater of the Ahfiwe school which was a project of the Council for Community Relations in Lambeth, ILEA. Linked to The Ahfiwe school was the Gresham project's supplementary education scheme for which Wong was Education Co-coordinator. The Gresham Youth Centre (Gresham Project) was setup with the assistance of the Home Office under the terms of the Urban Programme. Its aim was to provide an "unstructured" centre for young people of Brixton.
Ansel Wong was born on 4 October 1945 in San Fernando, Trinidad & Tobago. His early education included attendance at San Fernando Boy's Government School, Trinidad (1953-1958), and Naparima College, Trinidad (1958-1964). In 1965 Wong arrived in the UK to attend Hull University, his studies there ended in 1968. Wong went on to study at the Institute of Education, University of London, and Brunel University. Ansel was extremely politically active, particularly in the 1970s. He was chairman of the West Indian Students Union and was instrumental creating Black History month in the UK. Wong and his peers created Black History Month in order to highlight and celebrate the contributions of Africans to the economic, cultural and political life of London and the UK. The first Black History Month events took place in 1987 and was supported by the Inner London Education Authority,