@Muhsin234 (Twitter)
While
serving the nation as corps members, there was nothing more on our minds than
life after the assignment. Life was full of uncertainty and apprehension.
The allowance, which was almost doubled during our stream, of N19,800, and the little stipend from our various primary places of assignment (PPAs) will stop coming once we finish. Subhanallah!
My
confidant, Anas Musa, went and purchased job application forms for us at the
Kano Senior Secondary School Management Board (KSSSMB). He filled him, but I
was somewhat reluctant to do the same, for I was tipped off that I might be
retained at my PPA or employed by a few other greener places. I finally did,
and we submitted our applications.
About
a year passed, and no one invited us to an interview, an aptitude test, or
anything else. Immediately after the Service, I got an appointment with BUK and
later Anas with the Federal University, Dutse. Months later, I got a call from a prestigious private school in Kano, saying they had found my file at KSSSMB and thought I was employable. I thanked them and diplomatically declined the offer. The
same happened to my friend. To the government, we were not worth their
attention or employment.
An
elder friend is doing Teaching Practice (TP) at one of the state’s oldest and most
famous secondary schools. He teaches mathematics. He told me that 2 of the three
permanent mathematics teachers in the school read BSc Economics. The one he
works under barely knows LCM and lacks any art of teaching. She ‘punishes’ the
students for misbehaving by making them use English throughout her
period! Unbelievable!
While
the KSSSMB does not care to employ qualified applicants, it takes in quacks,
for they probably have “longer legs” or “connections”. In contrast, a private school goes so far as to check applicants’ files with the government board and invite them to the school. How incredible! I no longer
blame even the poorest parents who struggle to enrol their kids in private
schools. Often, the private is better than the public.
I
am not just hailing private schools. There are many mushroom-like private
schools all over the place. But still, the deterioration of the public schools
is more damning. And it’s essentially the government’s failure. There is
no welfare for the teachers, no instructional materials for teaching, no this
and that, and the list continues.
Allah
ya gyara mana kawai, amin.
Muhsin
NB:
I
am not degrading those who read Economics at all. There could be an economist
who knows more mathematics than someone who studied it. But the teacher’s case is different. Thanks.
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