How can society tell if teachers don’t share the blame for strikes?
Oct 21, 2004
The recent strikes in schools like Nabumali High School and Gombe Senior Secondary School were not a total surprise.
Carol Natukunda
The recent strikes in schools like Nabumali High School and Gombe Senior Secondary School were not a total surprise. They are always about almost the same and familiar grievances — either the administration is indifferent to the students’ problems or poor diet.
Of course the facts on ground could be more. But how can parents and the general public tell if the teachers are doing a good job? If, increasingly, we have strikes for the same cause, then something must be terribly wrong in our schools.
Naturally, it is very difficult for ordinary students to cooperate with a school system which they feel is taking unfair advantage of them. Why, for instance, should someone at the top fail to listen to what they have got to say, simply because you are at the bottom? Yet the deepest urge in a youth is the desire to be listened to as is the case with an adult. It is a paradox. Take for example the water shortage at Nabumali. As much as one cannot do without an early morning shower, students are probably expected to attend early morning classes. Ridiculous, if you asked me. The strikes in schools could be in an effort to win sympathy and attention and which has been denied them in the harsh world of reality.
This judgment can be reflected back in childhood. Give a child an object and they will study it with every sense, including taste! It is the same with students. Deny them something and they will ‘taste’ anything they can to get a solution! Conversely, handle them honestly and they will always cherish your advice.
Admittedly, some students in an attempt to be heard have gone to extremes. At Nabumali high school, students burnt down a block in which all the records and materials supposed to be used in the national examinations were. That was very unreasonable. It is not sensible either to riot just because someone refused you to have an overnight ball. At Gombe, the riot was partly because students were not allowed to have a trans-night dance!
Of course the students are losing on all fronts. However, expulsion should be enough to teach a lesson to striking students. For their names to appear in the press is rather too harsh because the public would never forget.
The strikes are a challenging task to the elders, parents and guardians who share some blame with the children.
Children should seriously be counselled to be responsible citizens.
The writer is a freelance journalist
The recent strikes in schools like Nabumali High School and Gombe Senior Secondary School were not a total surprise. They are always about almost the same and familiar grievances — either the administration is indifferent to the students’ problems or poor diet.
Of course the facts on ground could be more. But how can parents and the general public tell if the teachers are doing a good job? If, increasingly, we have strikes for the same cause, then something must be terribly wrong in our schools.
Naturally, it is very difficult for ordinary students to cooperate with a school system which they feel is taking unfair advantage of them. Why, for instance, should someone at the top fail to listen to what they have got to say, simply because you are at the bottom? Yet the deepest urge in a youth is the desire to be listened to as is the case with an adult. It is a paradox. Take for example the water shortage at Nabumali. As much as one cannot do without an early morning shower, students are probably expected to attend early morning classes. Ridiculous, if you asked me. The strikes in schools could be in an effort to win sympathy and attention and which has been denied them in the harsh world of reality.
This judgment can be reflected back in childhood. Give a child an object and they will study it with every sense, including taste! It is the same with students. Deny them something and they will ‘taste’ anything they can to get a solution! Conversely, handle them honestly and they will always cherish your advice.
Admittedly, some students in an attempt to be heard have gone to extremes. At Nabumali high school, students burnt down a block in which all the records and materials supposed to be used in the national examinations were. That was very unreasonable. It is not sensible either to riot just because someone refused you to have an overnight ball. At Gombe, the riot was partly because students were not allowed to have a trans-night dance!
Of course the students are losing on all fronts. However, expulsion should be enough to teach a lesson to striking students. For their names to appear in the press is rather too harsh because the public would never forget.
The strikes are a challenging task to the elders, parents and guardians who share some blame with the children.
Children should seriously be counselled to be responsible citizens.
The writer is a freelance journalist