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WHY THE REVOLUTION CANNOT BE STARTED BY THE PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS

 I have always believed that one day there would be some sort of eruption in the form of a revolt that will lead to a shift in perspective and focus in the education sector. I believe that that revolution will enable not just the government but individuals to see the importance of education and the role it can play in the entire transformation of a country. 

Being in the public school system I have come to the realization of the possibility of public school teachers taking a back seat in whatever revolt is about to come. Do you know why? It’s the same reason a public school teacher will decide to sit down in a dilapidated building called a classroom for twenty years, without a single word of complaint. The popular idea is that, if they complain about the things that are wrong it would make the government look and feel irresponsible almost like they are spreading its dirty linens in public and as a result, they may lose their jobs. Ah! A job they’ve been doing for twenty-five years? No! Impossible, they’ll rather accept that after all the classroom is not their personal property, they’ll accept that the government will not pay them for a couple of months without any real explanations or apologies, they’ll rather accept being uncomfortable in a bad classroom for the entire day for a cumulative of twenty years.

Agnes Onyekwere and her pupils in class

Sometimes you think that oh! since we all are salary earners, is there a chance that we can try to fix a few things that are not working in this environment at least before our complaints get to the government, considering that we are the ones who work here every day, how about we find a way to make it as comfortable as it can be for us? The answer to this too is a No! Why? Because if the government finds out we are trying to do its job it can decide to leave the entire work for us to do and feel more non-nonchalant about its duties and responsibilities.

If you work in a public school you’ll hear stories of individuals who decided they would use their personal funds to help with infrastructure in some public schools and we hear of horrible

procedures these individuals are asked to go through just to make sure they are discouraged from doing the work as only the government wants to take the glory for things done in the public space and obviously does not like to share that glory. These individuals are fined to the extent that the funds they intended to use for the project would be used to secure permission to do the project they intend to do.

A couple of weeks ago I approached a doctor and told him of the possibility of a partnership that would enable our pupils benefit from their corporate social responsibility in the form of health talks and free medical outreaches, I was surprised to hear that he had tried to that but was discouraged by the tedious procedures he was asked to follow just because he wanted to just give a health talk for the benefit of the children. At that point, he was sure that he would not try to do such a thing ever again and in fact warned me to be careful of such self-sabotaging systems.

When you have a system that does not want to change anything but again will not allow others do anything either, what’s the way forward?

Comments

  1. Gift Godfrey15 March 2023 at 23:21

    I share your submission and his resonates... I have always maintained that the revolution that will transform education in Nigeria, will not come from the pubic sector. Unfortunately, any reform that doesn't spread across the public sector, may not stand the test of time; or we can say it will suffer so much wear and tear to survive. Well done, Agnes.

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