In the past, the fear of teachers was the beginning of wisdom for pupils. It is no longer so today. Pupils have grown wings. Their teachers are afraid of them. Discipline has collpased in schools. What is the way out? KOFOWOROLA BELO-OSAGIE, ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA, OLUWATOYIN ADELEYE and JANE CHIJIOKE.
A security man’s attempt to correct a pupil went wrong sometime last month in a public secondary school in Lagos.
The girl’s truancy had just been discovered by her mother who was informed by a teacher. For some time, she left home everyday for school, but she spent all her time in a barber’s shop opposite her school.
When confronted by her mother, rather than being sober, the teenager walked away in anger. The security man, who witnessed the incident, tried to call her to order and paid dearly for it. The barber smashed a bottle on the securityman’s head for harassing his girlfriend.
By now, there was a crowd of teachers and onlookers at the school gate, with many wondering why it took the teachers so long before informing the girl’s parents of her truancy.
“You saw what this man (referring to the barber) just did?” One of the teachers responded in defence of his peers. “If this man could stab our securityman, then he can do worse to us teachers. Let us assume this had happened far from the school premises, who would have helped this security man out?”
“It’s not that we are looking away from them but we are merely conscious of our own safety because some of our students can be desperate,” another teacher protested.
“You see, you cannot predict the extent some of these wayward students can go. They can even harm or kill whoever tries to scold them once they realise the atmosphere is safe for them to do it. Teachers’ security is in God’s hand,” the teacher added.
The teachers’ reactions raised questions about how far they should go to discipline erring children. Many teachers believe they cannot do more than parents, who have the primary responsibility of disciplining their children.
National President, All Nigerian Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) Dr Fatima Binta Abdulrahman said the issue is so serious that it comes up each time the body holds its congress.
“It is a worrying situation which usually comes up under our sub-themes each time we have our congress. We talk about it regularly. It is the responsibility of the school management to instill discipline. If a student threatens a teacher, the school-based management committee and the Parent Teacher Association should take it up.
“We have discovered the cause of all these as moral decadence. We are even having situations where parents take teachers to court for beating their wards,” she said.
Mrs Bunmi Oluokun, head teacher of Ansar-Ud-Deen Nursery and Primary School, Mafoluku, Oshodi, said many children are so spoilt that teachers cannot effectively play the role of Loco Parentis.
She said: “I do not know whether I should term it modernisation; everything has gone beyond normal. Back then, when we went to school, we had the fear of our teacher in mind. But nowadays the reverse is the case. Some pupils are so rude they do not respect their parents or teachers. Some teachers would not want to risk their lives. Besides, how much are they earning? And if they die in the process what would the owner of the school or the government do? There is nothing like teachers playing second parents to pupils again; we are all here on our own. Is it the child that would raise hand and slap his parent at home that would not be able to do same to a teacher?”
Like many of his colleagues, Mr Adeyemi Adesanya, who teachers at the Adeyemi College of Education, Oto/Ijanikin (AOCOED), believes that when a child is wayward, it is simply a proof of failure on the part of parents.
Adesanya lamented that the situation is so bad, especially in public schools where some students have to fend for themselves.
“Imagine a student working in a beer parlour or having to hawk pure (sachet) water in order to augment family income? The probability of such children to be lured into bad company is quite high.
“Teachers are not miracle workers. A child comes from home with a character which they have to build upon. So if the foundation is defective, there is little the teacher can do,” he noted.
However, many private school administrators believe that the school should do more. Mrs OpeoIuwa Adeboye, head teacher, Green Bells International School, Mafoluku, Oshodi, thinks the school should be blamed for the communication gap.
“There is a gap in communication. What is the usefulness of attendance in class? If you notice a particular student is absent for two days, it is required that you contact the parents to find out why the student is absent. Psychologically, you do not know what the child is facing at home. The teachers should even be blamed and the school management should look into that. A child comes to your school not just to learn academically but also morally,” she said.
Some other teachers think the situation can be addressed by public shaming and corporal punishment.
Justina Falako, head teacher of Honey Field Primary School, Lagos, said public shaming puts children on the straight and narrow.
“A child like that is supposed to be disciplined both by the parents and the school. Suspension should be better from school and also bring her out on the assembly ground and flog her. That would send a warning signal to others. In my school, I discipline any erring child. I make sure I bring him out before his peers and flog him. Such behaviour only tells you that the child is given a free hand at home,” she said.
However, Mrs Oyedele Titilope, Assistant head teacher, African Church Bethel Nur Pry School, Ifako, says many parents do not like their wards to be beaten by teachers.
She said: “Use of corporal punishment is not allowed in my school. But some of the children can be so naughty that you would not have a choice. But many parents do not even like it and schools have frowned against flogging. They now believe in learning from experience or mistakes. So, we correct them verbally. We scold them, then once in a while we give minor punishments like kneel down for a short while, raise up your hands, close your eyes. But all these are just for a short while so that the children’s learning process would not be affected. It is a natural thing for a child to make mistakes. So, we can only correct them with love.”
Mrs Romoke Aderibigbe, proprietress of Diamonds Mine Schools, Adeyeri, Ogba, Lagos, also said flogging does not achieve the desired results.
“We train the children with love. If you cane them, they would become afraid of school, which should not be so. If you want to correct them, you choose the right words to encourage them not to discourage them. Do not use vulgar or abusive words. And through repetition, the child would change. Try not to kill the child’s morale. I always tell my teachers that once a pupil is admitted into the school, he or she becomes your child so train them the way you would train your child,” she said.
In disciplining errant pupils, teachers must be wise to avoid being hurt, says Wole Peters (not real name), who teaches at Ojo Community High School, Ojo.
“He (teacher) has the right within and outside the school premises because we are loco parentis to them. At the same time, a teacher needs to be careful if he finds his student in an untoward situation. But if the teacher insists he must exercise his power and the situation boomerangs, he will have himself to blame.
“I’m close to 30 years in this profession and I have seen lots of unthinkable things. Do you realise that children in primary school now join cult let alone those in secondary schools? Therefore, teachers must apply wisdom in every situation,” he said.
Mrs Omotunde Lawson, president of the All Nigerian Confederation of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), Lagos State chapter, said teachers needed to be trained on how to handle sensitive situations.
She said: “Teachers will need training. They have to be trained on how to react to emergency situation. There are personal ways to address issues, legal ways to address issues. A child will tell you that he is an adult and so he has a right to do anything. Let the teachers be appropriately trained on how to manage issues that are delicate. By so doing, they know the step to take when issues come up. When they are fighting somewhere, yes, it is good for the teacher to go there; but should the teacher go where they are fighting and breaking bottles, or the teacher should seek the assistance of the police or the KAI people? Who are you to seek assistance from?”
Mosun Owo-Odunsi, proprietress of Amville School, Ilupeju, said such training should even be included in the teacher-training curriculum.
“One of the core areas we need to look at in our teacher education is safeguarding. It is what can also be introduced in schools, in continuous professional education development. At times, teachers may also be ignorant about it. But once they are educated, once the awareness is created, and the right information has been given to teachers, it should get better,” she said.
In addition to applying wisdom, Peters also advised schools to build on its relationship with its community, which can help rid it of miscreants that corrupt pupils in the neighbourhood. Similarly, he advised schools to inform the Ministry of Environment to get rid of shops, kiosks and other things that could constitute hangouts for hoodlums.
Peters’ suggestion is the direction that the Office of Quality Assurance, newly-established by the Lagos State government, would go.
In an interview, the Director-General of the Quality Assurance Office, Mrs Ronke Soyombo, said schools that have problems with discipline because of the presence of miscreants in their environment can ask for help.
“The monitoring and investigative department of our quality assurance office is doing a lot of work to see how they can support schools that are actually going through one problem or the other on safeguarding. What we have told schools is that people can call upon us anytime to advise them on what to do when it comes to safeguarding. But safeguarding is so paramount; we are not going to take it lightly at all. At the end of the day, we want to safeguard all our children to make sure that they are in very secured and safe environments,” she said.
