Where are school inspectors? (II)
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- Category: Philosofaith
- Written by M. U. Ndagi
- Hits: 486
In continuation of our last week’s discourse, it is sad to observe that private schools are worse in terms of the gratuitous practices and excesses of school managers.
Let us, for instance, bring the issue of “extra lessons” in to focus. Most private schools make it mandatory for pupils especially at the basic level of education to continue with “extra lessons”. Most often, they are conducted under the same learning environment soon after normal school lessons end. A situation where school authorities organize and supervise the conduct of “extra lessons” after normal school hours pre-supposes that normal lessons were going to be taught in substandard form; perhaps to justify the need for “extra lessons”. If there are inspectors who go on inspection visits to schools, why do the extra lessons persist in such schools? Could it mean that the school inspectors or educational planners and administrators have endorsed the practice?
In the past, those who went to school (at the basic level) even as recent as mid-1980s didn’t know of anything called “extra lesson”. This and other unethical tendencies found their ways in to normal teaching and learning processes in schools when government started considering education as a liability rather than a social responsibility; and teachers’ welfare as a privilege rather than an indispensable commitment. Of course, many reasons account for the present crises in the Nigerian education system. We are aware that the principles of education allow extra lessons in schools but only for “learners with learning difficulties”. Maybe, school proprietors who run extra lessons are saying that all learners in all classes in their respective schools have learning challenges that make extra lessons necessary for all.
Besides, extra lessons over-stretch the mental capacities of learners; causing psychological stress on their brains and their assimilation patterns. Six hours (8am to 2pm) of effective learning is a period long enough for a pupil of ten years and below to deserve mental rest. The extra lesson tradition in schools is also a disregard to children’s time for siesta. It is equally an infringement upon their right to sufficient time for playing and engaging in physical exercises. Extra lessons similarly hijack the socialization process of children as they would be left with limited time, when they return home, to interact with other family members including siblings.
If the Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), the only government agency responsible for developing curriculum for all school subjects at the basic and post-basic levels of education knew that extra time was required to cover the curriculum contents of subjects; it would have stated that in clear terms. The practice by which schools make extra lessons compulsory for all students and pupils throughout the academic year lacks basis and is perceived as a means to extorting money from parents.
Very many schools have actually become “toll gates” where unauthorized levies are collected from pupils and their parents. The levies have now gone beyond cash. Some teachers, today, remind their pupils on the occasion of their birthdays; instructing them to come along with gifts from their parents. Others collect “End of Year party” levy from pupils without giving the later anything worth half the amount. A colleague recently told me that his child was levied by their class teacher to bring a “live” horse from home on the occasion of the school’s inter-house sports competition. What the teacher meant was that the parent of the pupil was required to hire one if he had none. I think some of these demands are extreme.
Some teachers, especially in private schools, find pleasure in giving “invalid” assignments that must often do not correspond with learners’ mental or chronological age. Such assignments which sometimes lack relevance with the syllabus are given by teachers to; perhaps, create an impression that they are dedicated. A friend recently told me that his child in nursery one brought home an assignment that reads “what is the name of the longest river in Africa”. When, in my view, has a nursery one pupil finished learning about rivers in Nigeria that he would be asked about the longest river in Africa? This question, I guess, is meant for the parents rather than the pupils. This brand of unprofessional attitude among teachers would have been checked if there had been close monitoring of teaching by headmasters /principals. The failure in the supervisory roles of school mangers is attributable, to some degrees, to the collapse of inspectorate services.
I find it bizarre that some schools (particularly the federal unity colleges) in the country still give students what they call “mid-term break”. I think this is unnecessary considering not just the inconveniences but also the risks involved in students and their parents travelling (by road or by air) to and fro their homes. The fact that school terms and sessions are shorter today due to several reasons including incessant industrial actions by teachers makes the break uncalled for.
The tone of discipline in schools today is another worrisome challenge. Many factors account for this unbecoming situation. Our value system has degenerated. The commitment of teachers and school administrators especially in public schools is not good enough. What I witnessed when I visited one of the secondary schools in the FCT on Wednesday February 29, 2012 was quite frightening. It was a case of a student who openly dared his teacher for sanctioning his unruly behavior.
We really have a serious education crisis at hand. Government at federal and state levels must show commitment to reviving and stregthening their inspectorate services department of the ministry of education. Reports of inspection visits should mean much to government. The FCT department of policy and implementation has a good structure of schools inspection services. But it is one thing to have a structure and another to make it serve the intended purpose(s). An inspectorate department that is under-funded or not funded at all makes no difference. I just hope the situation with school inspectors is not like what obtains in the police force where a policeman is asked to go on assignment without giving him his entitlements (DTA). Even where goverment pays inspectors a “lump sum” of allowance in lieu of inspecton visits, is it really enough?
Appropriate laws must equally be enacted to empower inspectors to sanction erring school managers or defaulting teachers. Such laws must not be fashioned in a manner that will make their enforcement difficult or their abuse easy. May Allah (SWT) guide our leaders to genuinely prioritize education and give it the commitment it deserves, amin.
Articles
Where are school inspectors? (II)
Category: Philosofaith Written by M. U. Ndagi Hits: 486
In continuation of our last week’s discourse, it is sad to observe that private schools are worse in terms of the gratuitous practices and excesses of school managers.
Let us, for instance, bring the issue of “extra lessons” in to focus. Most private schools make it mandatory for pupils especially at the basic level of education to continue with “extra lessons”. Most often, they are conducted under the same learning environment soon after normal school lessons end. A situation where school authorities organize and supervise the conduct of “extra lessons” after normal school hours pre-supposes that normal lessons were going to be taught in substandard form; perhaps to justify the need for “extra lessons”. If there are inspectors who go on inspection visits to schools, why do the extra lessons persist in such schools? Could it mean that the school inspectors or educational planners and administrators have endorsed the practice?
In the past, those who went to school (at the basic level) even as recent as mid-1980s didn’t know of anything called “extra lesson”. This and other unethical tendencies found their ways in to normal teaching and learning processes in schools when government started considering education as a liability rather than a social responsibility; and teachers’ welfare as a privilege rather than an indispensable commitment. Of course, many reasons account for the present crises in the Nigerian education system. We are aware that the principles of education allow extra lessons in schools but only for “learners with learning difficulties”. Maybe, school proprietors who run extra lessons are saying that all learners in all classes in their respective schools have learning challenges that make extra lessons necessary for all.
Besides, extra lessons over-stretch the mental capacities of learners; causing psychological stress on their brains and their assimilation patterns. Six hours (8am to 2pm) of effective learning is a period long enough for a pupil of ten years and below to deserve mental rest. The extra lesson tradition in schools is also a disregard to children’s time for siesta. It is equally an infringement upon their right to sufficient time for playing and engaging in physical exercises. Extra lessons similarly hijack the socialization process of children as they would be left with limited time, when they return home, to interact with other family members including siblings.
If the Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), the only government agency responsible for developing curriculum for all school subjects at the basic and post-basic levels of education knew that extra time was required to cover the curriculum contents of subjects; it would have stated that in clear terms. The practice by which schools make extra lessons compulsory for all students and pupils throughout the academic year lacks basis and is perceived as a means to extorting money from parents.
Very many schools have actually become “toll gates” where unauthorized levies are collected from pupils and their parents. The levies have now gone beyond cash. Some teachers, today, remind their pupils on the occasion of their birthdays; instructing them to come along with gifts from their parents. Others collect “End of Year party” levy from pupils without giving the later anything worth half the amount. A colleague recently told me that his child was levied by their class teacher to bring a “live” horse from home on the occasion of the school’s inter-house sports competition. What the teacher meant was that the parent of the pupil was required to hire one if he had none. I think some of these demands are extreme.
Some teachers, especially in private schools, find pleasure in giving “invalid” assignments that must often do not correspond with learners’ mental or chronological age. Such assignments which sometimes lack relevance with the syllabus are given by teachers to; perhaps, create an impression that they are dedicated. A friend recently told me that his child in nursery one brought home an assignment that reads “what is the name of the longest river in Africa”. When, in my view, has a nursery one pupil finished learning about rivers in Nigeria that he would be asked about the longest river in Africa? This question, I guess, is meant for the parents rather than the pupils. This brand of unprofessional attitude among teachers would have been checked if there had been close monitoring of teaching by headmasters /principals. The failure in the supervisory roles of school mangers is attributable, to some degrees, to the collapse of inspectorate services.
I find it bizarre that some schools (particularly the federal unity colleges) in the country still give students what they call “mid-term break”. I think this is unnecessary considering not just the inconveniences but also the risks involved in students and their parents travelling (by road or by air) to and fro their homes. The fact that school terms and sessions are shorter today due to several reasons including incessant industrial actions by teachers makes the break uncalled for.
The tone of discipline in schools today is another worrisome challenge. Many factors account for this unbecoming situation. Our value system has degenerated. The commitment of teachers and school administrators especially in public schools is not good enough. What I witnessed when I visited one of the secondary schools in the FCT on Wednesday February 29, 2012 was quite frightening. It was a case of a student who openly dared his teacher for sanctioning his unruly behavior.
We really have a serious education crisis at hand. Government at federal and state levels must show commitment to reviving and stregthening their inspectorate services department of the ministry of education. Reports of inspection visits should mean much to government. The FCT department of policy and implementation has a good structure of schools inspection services. But it is one thing to have a structure and another to make it serve the intended purpose(s). An inspectorate department that is under-funded or not funded at all makes no difference. I just hope the situation with school inspectors is not like what obtains in the police force where a policeman is asked to go on assignment without giving him his entitlements (DTA). Even where goverment pays inspectors a “lump sum” of allowance in lieu of inspecton visits, is it really enough?
Appropriate laws must equally be enacted to empower inspectors to sanction erring school managers or defaulting teachers. Such laws must not be fashioned in a manner that will make their enforcement difficult or their abuse easy. May Allah (SWT) guide our leaders to genuinely prioritize education and give it the commitment it deserves, amin.