The price of ceaseless learning

The quest for excellent grades obliges school children to take on additional lessons - even at weekends and during holidays.

A first-time visitor to an average Cameroonian elementary, secondary or high school would be surprised at how much time children spend attending classes.

Extra classes have become normal not only on weekdays but also at weekends and during holidays. The aim is to make excellent grades in class and certificate examinations and thus be counted on honours’ rolls. But all this comes at a huge price to pupils, students and parents.

According to Dr Njungwa Zinkeng Martina, an educational psychologist/guidance counsellor and Head of Department of Guidance Counselling, Higher Technical Teachers’ Training College, HTTTC Kumba of the University of Buea, children need to rest their brains.

When they are overburdened with school and home classes, they become virtual robots and are therefore unable to think and become less creative, she points out. Moreover, the organisation of holiday classes at which normal school work is repeated makes such learning monotonous for young people, she says.

Similarly, Dr Zinkeng notes that today’s school children might be intelligent in academics, but they miss out on many aspects of life. Such pupils and students often spend their time doing the many school assignments or are busy working with home teachers.

As a result, they tend to see house chores, gardening, farming or discussions with visiting relatives as time-wasting. Consequently, the emphasis of school authorities appears to be on making 100 per cent passes in certificate examinations and projecting the names of their schools, with little consideration for a holistic approach to education.

“Peer monitoring is virtually absent in our school system because children want to be the best not only in their classes, schools, but also at the national level. This negative competitive spirit means bright pupils and students no longer have any time for their weaker mates,” says Dr Njungwa Zinkeng Martina.

Any hours allocated for moral instruction tend to be seen by these children as waste of time because it is not a certificate examination subject, she adds. On the other hand, the multiplication of paid extra classes in school, at home and during holidays, gradually makes education, which is human right, a preserve of the rich, some educationists warn.

Given the young ages of today’s school children, organising endless or year-round classes go contrary to the old but tested saying that; “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” Other educationists warn that spending much time in acquiring knowledge might leave little or no time for students to revise their lessons. As examinations approach, children become edgy as they try to read huge piles of notes, thus resulting in nervous breakdowns or other health problems.

It has been suggested that some children attend the many extra classes organised by their teachers out of fear of being victimised by them. There is also the possibility that additional lessons might be taught in a rush in order to cover workloads as soon as possible.

Consequently, enough consideration might not be given to slow learners, thereby defeating the essence of these classes. Finally, after-school, weekend, home or holiday classes come at a price. The more they are organised, the more parents have to dip their hands into their pockets to pay the “token’ cost.