Sometimes, less is more -- even when it comes to education.

Elliott Primary teacher Francine Childress learned this lesson after an eye-opening visit to South Africa.

Ms Childress, who teaches modified middle one (formerly primary seven), travelled to the former apartheid nation last summer with six teachers and three principals from middle schools across the US.

The youngest of the group, Ms Childress told The Royal Gazette she was honoured to receive the invitation by an international organisation known as People to People.

But the National Middle School Association member admitted she was baffled by their mission -- which she thought was to research middle schools, but South Africa has none.

"My guess is because South Africa has a new government, they wanted to know what was happening in education around the world,'' Ms Childress said when asked the reason for the trip.

And while educators in South Africa were interested in hearing about the middle school concept, she noted that they had no immediate need for it.

The North American-based middle school system is being adopted by Bermuda to allow adolescent students and teachers to build a link between the nurturing influence of primary school and the complexities of learning in a high school.

But in South Africa, where it is common to find three students to one desk and 12-to-18-year-old children in one class, in black schools, Ms Childress said there were more pressing priorities.

"One school, which had started in January, was literally located in a group of container boxes,'' she recalled. "And when we there not one teacher had collected a salary.'' The school, Samora Machel in Soweto, had 559 students from the area, 11 teachers, and one principal.

And in some of the containers there were five different classes going on at the same time, Ms Childress recalled.

"But when we walked in a class of some 45 students without the teacher who had just stepped out,'' she said, "you could hear a pin drop.

"The discipline level was incredible.

"I think this is because they know what they are there for. The children believe it is a privilege to have an education. They are starving for education.'' Ms Childress also noted that despite their level of poverty, the students took pride in their personal appearance.

At Thatlogang Junior School, a predominantly black school, she said students' uniforms were clean and neat.

"Even if they had one shirt, they went home each day and washed it,'' Ms Childress said. "Their shoes were also well polished.'' The students also exhibited a level of politeness which she said she had not seen in a long time.

"When we entered the room, they stood up,'' Ms Childress recalled. "I knew about that because we used to do it when I was in school. But we have gotten away from that.

"Also when they answered questions, they raised their hands, stood up when they were called on, and answered in a complete sentence before sitting back down.

"It was amazing. I looked at those children and said to myself they had nothing, but they were so rich in spirit.'' And Ms Childress said she would rather have discipline in a class than the best resources and facilities.

"I would rather have the discipline because once you have that, you can pull ideas from children,'' she explained. "That (the lack of resources) would bring in critical thinking and creative activity.'' Ms Childress was also impressed by the dedication of the teachers -- including those at Samora Machel who held staff meetings outside the containers due to a lack of facilities -- to education.

"We went to white schools, which had everything from A to Z, coloured schools which had a little less, then black schools which nothing, not even textbooks,'' she noted.

"One teacher said she uses a newspaper or magazine for teaching material if she gets her hands on them.

"They don't have libraries so it's useless to give assignments because students are not able to do the research. "That gave me an idea of sending information to them as part of a social studies unit.'' Hardly able to contain her enthusiasm about the schools she visited, Ms Childress said: "It just brought back a lot of memories from when I was growing up. It took me back to my childhood because I saw the same things I experienced when I was in school.

"I looked at myself when I came back and said because of the lack of materials they are forced to be more creative.'' Ms Childress said she planned to look into an exchange programme People to People offered.

"I would like to spend a whole summer there (in South Africa) teaching our techniques,'' she admitted. "But I would like to go back with some of my students so they can see for themselves. They see South Africa on television and we have done a few lessons on it when we did a project on Africa, but it's not the same.

"They will have the chance to see the soup and peanut butter sandwiches which are given to the kids who cannot afford lunch, while our students here are throwing away turkey sandwiches.

"They need to experience it themselves by being there. And when they come back, they can share what they have seen and learned with their peers. Because often they do not believe us adults. They think we are exaggerating.'' Some of Ms Childress' students have already sent off letters to their new South African friends and she said she hoped that they will develop a lasting relationship.

Ms Childress said she and the other teachers on the trip also planned to keep in touch with the principals at the schools they visited.

The have prepared reports on each of the places they visited. The information is expected to be compiled in a book.

Ms Childress thanked all of the groups and individuals who helped to finance her trip, including the Elliott School PTA, Young Men's Social Club, Kenneth C. Daniels, Midland Heights Seventh Day Adventist Church, Footstop Shoe Store, John and Louise Darrell, Alice Hill, Shelly and Ivy Smith, Annette Ibel, Terry-Lynn Weeks, and Wilbur Smith.

YOUNG LEARNERS -- Students sit in a class at South Africa's Cornflour Elementary School which has a student body of some 690 "coloured'' students.

CROWDED CONDITIONS -- Despite their humble classroom -- a container -- students at Samora Machel in Soweto look forward to attending school.

DEJA VU -- Elliott Primary School teacher Francine Childress stands next to a student from Fourways High School in Cape Town, South Africa. The high school's uniform is, with the exception of the crest, identical to that of Warwick Academy where Ms Childress attended high school.