Reminiscing on days I was still a pupil in the primary school and then a student in the secondary and Higher institutions. I couldn't help but laugh out loud as the memories kept coming in.
I remember a particular morning. I didn't want to go to school. Fear and trepidation had filled my body. I had woken up late again that morning. Remembering what had happened the previous day I went late to school, I burst out crying. " oga (big man) what happened, why are you crying"? Mumsy asked me. Still thinking of what punishment is waiting for me in school for coming late, the tears came rushing even more.
You see, 'baba elegba' (school Gate man with cane) was a very wicked man. He never spares the cane if you ever come late. I was at the receiving end of his cane the previous day, and I can tell you for free, I still feel the pains that morning. I never liked him, no child actually did.
Waking up ten minutes past seven that morning was a sacrilege. There was no way I was going to he in school before the bell rings for the seven forty five assembly. My school was about two miles away. So except I was able to convince mum (another toughie) why I would not be going to school, for whatever reason, I was done for.
Off course, by now, from my narration, you should know I attended a public school. For one, it is only a public school that had a baba elegba, lol.
Except for, maybe, one year in a private nursery school, my primary, secondary, polytechnic and university education were all in public schools aka government schools. Never had the luxury of going to a private school again, not that I even longed for it at that time
Beyond the, sometimes, overzealous Gate man and punishment hungry teachers and senior students, I actually had a swell time in all of this schools. For me, despite their obvious shortcomings, those days were the best days of my life. Just ignore the punishments and flogging.
Being schools with massive populations of students, making friends was not a problem. I had loads of them that are still relevant to me even till this day. One of them actually gifted my fist bitcoins way back when I never knew anything about crypto.
Everyday in school was a continuation of fun. I always wanted to be present in school, if not for anything, but to see Caroline,lol.
my first crush
Caroline was my Childhood crush. My innocent heart was filled with fondness for her. Wanted to see her everyday. Funny enough, she no send my papa (never had my time).
Public schools was quite competitive during my time. For a fact we had some of the best teachers. All our teachers were actually graduate, I know the government made sure of that. We were always among the best schools in inter schools competitions. We never felt inferior as we could more than match any school pound for pound.
One thing attending public schools instilled in me was being street smart. Apart from being intelligent we were as tough as you can get and quite exposed to life as it were those days. This has helped me in many ways navigate this journey called life today.
However, as much as I had beautiful moments that I would give anything to recreate, public schools are bedeviled with so many problems. One of which is lack of attention to students and pupils.
I had a taste of bullying in a public primary school. A girl that was twice my age and so much bigger would not allow me rest in the school. During breaks she would look for me and collect all my food and money I brought to school.
I was bullied
I was very small then and didn't know what to do. This continued till a stranger(not in my school) came to my rescue. I hated going to school those days. This probably wouldn't have happened if the school authorities paid attention to children and their welfare, most times through guidance and counselling.
Crowding was a big issue with public schools. We were more than 50 in my class in both primary and secondary school,while we were over 150 at the higher institutions.
The teacher to student ratio was not encouraging. Coupled with the Attendant distractions associated with such bloated classes. Perhaps building more infrastructures and getting more teachers to fill the gaps would go a long way.
Public schools needs better funding and welfare packages for the teachers and staffs. I remember being at home for over four months due to teachers strike. We wasted a lot of time staying at home and ended up staying more than we should have stayed in school.
I hated punishment, I did all I could, while in school, to avoid them. Public schools derives so much joy in dishing them out. I wish this could change and make them realise all those punishment never really changes most students, instead it hardens them.
One particular challenge always stood out in all of the public school I attended. Lack of learning equipments.
source
Where they manage to be available, they are so, so outdated. If the government would invest more in this area, I believe public schools would able to hold there own anywhere.
All this notwithstanding, I believe studying in public schools have a lot of benefits that outweighs the negatives. For one, it has made me a lot tougher version of myself and more than prepared me for life realities. The thing is, if given another chance, would I love to relive my public school experiences? I think I would love to. Would I love my children to follow my path and go to public schools? I strongly doubt that.
