By Grace Essen
It was indeed a very rude shock to hear what has been reported the worst phase of secondary school students’ unrest in history. We all want our children to make history but definitely not in that manner.
It all began on Monday when school students went on the rampage unleashing mayhem on their teachers and destroying classrooms, school infrastructure and billboards bearing Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s picture following mass failure in the last promotional examinations across secondary schools in Oyo State. The Oyo State Government had abolished automatic promotion and set a new promotion policy that only students with 50 per cent in Mathematics and English language will transit to the next class. As it stands, the affected schools have been closed indefinitely, and the Oyo state government has said the policy would not be reversed despite the protests.
According to reports the police have arrested 30 students for their involvement in the protest and destruction of public property. Those arrested in Ibadan have been charged to court, while their counterparts from Oyo will be in court soon. *I sigh.
When I watched the news on TV, I had to remind myself over and over that it was indeed secondary school students who had caused the wanton destruction at such alarming level…children only in their teen! For everyone including those of us whose children are not involved in this there is serious cause for concern. How can it be that the Government set a pass mark to challenge students to study hard and what it gets in return is an unimaginable reaction which states clearly: ‘we don’t want to study but we want to pass!’
Here are few comments form one of Nigeria’s news blogs, BellaNaija on this issue:
*Wow, I’m weak. Rather, than these students challenging themselves to do better, they decide to burn down their institutions?! What is really going on? I have so many questions I’m not even sure where to begin.
*There is a Yoruba adage that says omo ti a ba ko lo ma gbe ile ta ko ta. The child you don’t train/build up will end up selling the house you build.
*A lot of the public schools in naija are just not up to par. You have teachers skipping classes, classrooms with poor infrastructures. No lab to write home about and they expect the students to thrive. Sure there are some exceptional students who will make it anyways but awon average and below average nko? Some of the teachers sef are not up to par and have no background in education.
*My cousin’s teacher, a woman, comes to school whenever she pleases and leaves early sometimes. It takes up to a week for classes to begin in earnest when school resumes after vacation. Teacher absenteeism without a substitute. Teachers not prepared for classes, no lesson notes. Some of them have other businesses and / or are housewives because husbands do not help around the house and there are no househelps to assist.
Some students are not serious too. So much distraction. They don’t have the patience to work before pleasures. Poor infrastructure, salaries not paid consistently and on time. SAD!
While it is okay to punish the students involved to show that such behavior is totally unacceptable, we also have to look at this development critically and see where we got it wrong. For teenagers to have so much venom in them to strike a matchstick and set their own classrooms ablaze, we would ask why? Is it possible the students felt their poor performance was as a result of an unfair process? Were the teachers present to do their part to enable them make the pass mark?
Away from the school, let’s take a look at the homes that produce such children. We can easily say the parents contributed to this unruly behavior by not encouraging their wards to study hard, and by failing in their parenting duty of instilling the right values and modeling a non violent behavior for their children to emulate.
Again what do we see in the news every day? Protest upon protests, from their elder ones in the university who are so quick to destroy, to their parents and grandparents carrying placards, chanting and issuing threats to the government, and even exchanging blows shamelessly as law makers. How about the young men at the creeks whose language is nothing but violence and reckless destruction? So when the opportunity came these young ones demonstrated that they have been keen observers by outdoing the ones they learned from.
Is it possible to portray so much violence and expect that our children won’t mimic that? Whichever way the government chooses to punish the students, the approach should be to correct and win them back and give them another chance to be responsible citizens. We must look beyond this singular event and see it as a symptom of a disease that has eaten deep into the system which we must treat with urgency so we can rest assured that we truly have leaders of tomorrow.
Check out Grace’s blog @Mum2MumAfrica.com
You may reach Grace on 08061367203, or via email: gracessen@gmail.com.
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