Two weeks after the closure of schools in Kebbi, Bauchi, among other northern states, due to Ramadan, the decision of the authorities of the states has continued to generate concern among citizens.
Some teachers who talked to Saturday expressed their disgust, describing the closures as useless for the educational fortune of the State that is dealing with poor actions of students in external exams.
A senior high school teacher said that the government's action was not carried out, qualifying it from the academic curriculum.
The teacher who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “The closure has really affected us. Schools must work for eleven weeks and we have not exhausted the study program. They had to hurry us to perform exams and the exams were poorly carried out because the students did not have the opportunity to prepare properly.
“The schools had just spent eight weeks before closing and this has had repercussions for teachers and students. The teachers had only taught three topics before the exams, so nothing had been taught tangible. His scripts were very poor because they did not write what they were supposed to write for the exams.
“The SS3 students who are preparing for their final exams are particularly affected. Those exams begin in April. As we resume the classes, the exams begin. This would mean that those who are reading at home would work well for themselves and the lazy will be in it.
“There are issues that had not been taught before this interruption and those issues always come out in WAEC exams every year. This will negatively affect students due to poor preparation.”
Mr. Adekoya, a father of private school, told Saturday Tribune that most parents, Muslims or Christians are not happy with the closure of schools because this is not what they negotiated.
“Private schools are more affected due to rates. Parents who have paid would not be happy because schools have not gone in half. This closure has caused parents a lot of anguish, especially those who have paid their children's school fees, because they will not receive a refund,” said Adekoya.
Another senior public school teacher, who is also a father, said: “I feel very bad because this will make the work of the next term cumbersome, which will be 14 to 15 weeks because what should have been taught this term will take the next term.
“This will be very painful for teachers in the sense that students fighting with their academic works will be more difficult for the next quarter. Again, when the schools resume, students would return immediately. Some of them would remain behind for two weeks before they return to school after the celebration of Sallah. In every way, they will not pay the teachers and will not pay the students so well.
“The solution is that when it comes to the education of our children, religion must be eliminated. As much as we want to respect our right to worship, we must also respect our right to education. The level of the growth of a country depends on the educational achievement of that country.”
The decision of the unfair government: can
In addition, the state branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria (Can) described as unfair and unfair of the closure of schools for the fasting of Ramadan.
The state president of the association, the venerable Dr. Ayuba Kanta, who announced the position of Christian body, said that the state government made the decision without consulting with the pertinent stakeholders.
Dr. Kanta accused the state government of seeing Christians in the State as insignificant, noting that the closure of schools is affecting not only Christians but even Muslim students “in a state that is already educationally backward.”
He said that the state government that did not close the markets or other public facilities should have reduced operational hours instead of fully closing schools. “The closure, for me, is political, not religious in any form. It is not acceptable to us,” he said.
Bauchi's parents, teachers, others lament
Two weeks after the mandatory closure of primary and secondary schools, both public and private, interested parties, including parents and teachers, in the state of Bauchi have continued regretting the situation, describing it as the most unfortunate.
Some of the people who talked to Saturday's tribute described the development of a setback for the development of the state education sector.
Mrs. Lydia Dogara, a mother in the Bauchi Gwallaji area, has four schoolchildren. He expressed his regret for the situation, saying that he has no meaning or importance for his family.
She said: “My four children are at home without doing anything. They play from morning to night, eating in the middle. For me, mandatory holidays have no meaning. The government should not try next time.”
Another father, Ayuba Bako, who lives in the Yalwa area of Bauchi, said that the mandatory holidays were surprised because it was the first time it happened in the state.
Stating that the children would win nothing significant while they were at home, Bako said he was worried about the students in the final classes, considering that their exams are close.
He wondered how students are expected to write the exams and approve, after having lost a full month at home without doing anything but running.
The director of one of the private schools who wanted to be called Mike, he said that there was no liquidation behind closing schools for the Ramadan period, which is purely a religious problem.
He said: “There was no heard where the schools were closed for 40 days, not on normal school calendar holidays. The government is only playing with the future of these children.
“The government should have reduced school time as it was done in previous years. I don't think it's easy to recover lost time before exams.”
Mrs. Hauwa, who teaches in one of the special schools, expressed fear that students do not update the curriculum before the exam that is quickly approaching.
She emphasized that development would exert improper pressure to teachers to make magic to ensure that students meet expectations. “There is no magic that teachers can do,” he said.
Mrs. Hauwa appealed to the government to always take into account children while making any decision that may affect negatively in their future.
He also reacted to development, gone Samson from the area of Rafin Zurfi regretted that his children are losing a lot of academically since all they do is sleep, wake up, eat, play and sleep again.
Others who talked about development expressed anger because they, as main interested in the education sector, were not consulted when the government made the decision to close the schools.
They agreed in separate interviews that the closure was unnecessary, it was called an interruption of the normal school calendar in one of the main states in terms of children outside the school in the country.
Read also: Ramadan School closures