Can this be truly called Schooling or a School 1?

http://enlightenmemore.blogspot.com/2015/02/can-this-be-truly-called-schooling-or_5.html://enlightenmemore.blogspot.com/2015/02/can-this-be-truly-called-schooling-or_5.htmlrief argument ensued between some of the Senior Secondary School Two students of Southern Ijaw Secondary School, Oporoma, a riverine community 45 minutes away via speedboat from the capital city of Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

A young male teacher, Matthew Awoga, had asked one of the students, Emmanuel Alabo, to write the word ‘malaria’ on the blackboard to test his spelling skill
before the English class would begin properly.

Trembling as he held the chalk, Alabo dragged his feet to the front of the class, and after making several attempts to write the word, he eventually wrote
‘marleria.’

Perplexed, the teacher asked the rest of the class whether Alabo was right. While a part of the class said he was, another part argued he was not. Some other students were confused – they could not tell whether he was right or wrong.

The teacher was embarrassed; nonetheless, he called another student, a female, to write the word.

But the girl never attempted to write it. She bluntly said she had no idea how to spell the word.

After spending several minutes in front of the blackboard, she dropped the chalk. “Sir, I don’t know how to write it,” she admitted

Wanting to ‘disgrace’ the SSS 2 students, the teacher dashed out of the class to select three Junior Secondary School Three students “who would teach the seniors how to spell.” But Awoga got more than he bargained for.

One of the JSS 3 students, Efe Moses, simply wrote ‘maleria.’
Likewise, Faith Income, 15, was asked to write same word, but wrote ‘asieg,’ a non-existent English word.

Firstman Woyinkuro, also from JSS 3, eventually bailed his classmates and seniors out by writing the correct word The class clapped for him.

Interacting with the students later, they said it was not entirely their fault that they were unable to write words properly.

The students said they had not been receiving English lessons for a long time and that the teacher was a National Youth Service Corps member posted to the school.

Going late to school

The time was 11:35am when some of the students entered the school premises, chatting and playing along — until they all entered their different classrooms.

For the next one hour, the students in the Junior Secondary School 3 class sat on almost broken wooden seats idly, some resting their arms on the desks, anxiously waiting for the day’s lesson to begin. A young male teacher walked in with cane and a Mathematics textbook.

At his sight, they all sighed.
The teacher, another serving National Youth Service Corps member in the school, taught the class Mathematics till 2pm.

The lesson was over for the day.

The JSS 3 students learnt for an hour on that Monday. Unlike in Yenagoa, the state capital, where students were seen boarding taxis, buses and tricycles to go to school at about 7am, the students of SISSO told our correspondent many reasons why they needed not to resume early.

They said one of the reasons they resume late is because their teachers are not always available to teach them.

“Instead of wasting my time if I come early, I prefer staying at home helping my parents with some house chores,” a 15-year-old Senior Secondary School 2
student, Wisdom Victor, said.

Opening his dusty Biology notebook for the class’ last lesson on the subject was
in October. The boy forgot to date the lesson.

“We don’t have a Biology teacher again. Since the corper (corps member) who was teaching us passed
out last year, we’ve not had anyone to teach us again,” he said.

Victor, who wants to be a medical doctor, lamented that he was unsure of how he could achieve his dream without having an adequate knowledge of his favourite
subject – which is also a prerequisite for studying Medicine.

Ghost teachers, ghost students

From every indication, Victor, his classmates, juniors and seniors may keep going to school late, sitting idly in classes and having a one or two-hour lessons, as long as their teachers don’t bother, a position the principal of the school, Mr. Austin Sofoni, agreed to.

Although he did not disclose the number of teachers the school has, Sofoni said they are “many.”

However, on the day our correspondent visited, there were only about four of them present, including two corps members.He lamented that many of them are not committed to teaching and are also “difficult” to discipline.

He said, “We have a problem with teachers. Many of them are not always around. They don’t come to teach these children. Though we have many, most of them are not committed to the job and they are difficult to control.

“It is so because they are paid through their bank accounts nowadays; I could have withheld their salaries if it was like before when they were paid by cash.

“Though I can still do it [withhold their salaries], the process involved in doing so is not easy. Even if I succeed in getting their salaries unpaid, getting them paid afterwards is not also an easy process.

“When I consider all these things, I pretend not to know what is happening, but I truly fear for the future of these students.”

The situation has adversely affected the attendance of the students. Many students have since stopped attending classes while some others have dropped out of the school.

Aside Victor, another SSS 2 student, Orderere Agada, said she sometimes arrives in school very late because many times, her class only has one or two lessons in a day. She added that there are days when no lesson holds.

She justifies her lateness to school: “We need more teachers to learn. Some of us, even I, sometimes arrive in school by 11am or 12 noon because there are many
times we don’t learn anything. What’s the point in coming early?

“There are days that if we have more than two lessons, we are surprised. It’s unusual. Many of our teachers
live in Yenagoa.

“Our friends stay at home, especially when they are not sure whether there would be any lesson for the day.

They only come if we tell them teachers are around. We are determined to learn, but we lack teachers.” Moses Ayibakari, 15, also in SSS 2, said, “We don’t
have a Biology teacher since last term.

We also do not
have a Geography teacher. We are pleading with the government to send us more teachers.”

Courtesy: www.punchng.com

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