TODAY’S VIEWPOINT IS ON HOW PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN NIGERIA ARE OVERWORKING STUDENTS AND TEACHERS WITH ENDLESS ASSIGNMENTS
All work and no play makes jack a dull boy, says James Howell in his collection of proverbs back in 1659.
Close to five centuries after, the logic of the axiom, which is about forging a balance between work and relaxation continues to resonate.
Break periods in workplaces, annual vacation in both public and private institutions are to relieve the body from the strain of labour.
However, the essence of the maxim about rest seems to be lost in many private primary and secondary schools in Nigeria.
They design timetable which keeps students unduly long at schools from eight o clock in the morning to late in the evening, consisting of normal school hours classes and after school coaching.
As a consequence, students end up arriving home between half past five in the evening to seven pm.
One would assume that the stress ends for students once they are home.
Unfortunately, that is not the case, as they are faced with a load of assignments, forcing them to stay up late.
Ironically, the stress that schools which run such strenuous routine put their students through is counterproductive.
Quite a number of these students fagged out when they get home, with the strong possibility of not being able to finish some of the assignments.
The way out is to copy from those who bore the rigour of doing them when they get to schools the following day.
Proprietors or proprietress of some of these schools would argue that it is to keep the students occupied, and to cover the syllabus.
But then, these schools equally engage students, especially the terminal classes, JSS3 and SSS 3 on weekends.
The fact remains that owners of these schools want to project an air of extraordinary service for very high academic achievement to parents who cannot discern that the practice is not the best for their children.
Also, students in this category do not have the time to help out parents with domestic chores, which is equally essential in child upbringing.
Besides the students, teachers in these schools are also victims, as they are made to work their fingers to the bone, with little or no time for their personal lives.
Apart from their routine in schools from half past seven in the morning to five o clock in the evening, they are still made to hold classes for students during weekends.
Moreover, these teachers are being paid meagre salaries, compared to the rigorous labour and time they put in.
Rest plays a pivotal role in the learning process as studies show that the brain utilizes short breaks to process and consolidate new information.
Similarly, researchers reveal that brains may solidify memories of new skills just practiced a few seconds earlier by taking a short rest.
This highlights the important role rest may play in learning.
In view of this, it has become vital that schools with this unhelpful rigorous academic routine should change course.
On its part, stakeholders in education, particularly the ministry of education should urgently step to ensure sanity in the way teaching learning is undertaking, especially by some private schools.
