Once upon a time, pupils longed for the long holidays. Then it was time for visits to the village to stay with grandma or to another town to see uncles or cousins. Pupils shut their books; school bags, uniforms and other supplies are stored at the back of the wardrobe until the last days of the holidays.
During the vacation, they had lots of time on their hands to play. Rising and bed times were adjusted by parents so children can spend more time in front of the TV, playing computer games or outside playing football or any other game that catches their fancy. By the time schools resume, pupils’ hands are so stiff that they spend the first few days of the first term getting used to writing again.
However, times have changed. Though the long holidays are still part of the school calendar, many more pupils are spending it in school.
Summer school, whatever that means, organised during the holidays, are becoming more popular with each passing session; and many more parents and private schools are embracing the phenomenon.
Schools: Increased enrolment targets
Schools vary the programmes they offer during summer school, mixing academics with recreation so that pupils are more relaxed. Checks by The Nation showed that schools charged from as low as N2,000 to as high as N60,000 depending on their neighbourhood. Many of the schools that charge low fees offer little beyond academics; those that charge more, provide a variety of programmes to keep the pupils excited like excursion, sports, swimming, art and craft, catering, music, Information Communication Technology (ICT); and other vocational training.
Schools are not just organising the summer school programme to provide parents with places to keep their children or make extra cash. Many are adopting it as a strategy to increase enrolment in the new session and to prevent the poaching of their pupils by rivals.
A teacher in a private school in Ojo, a Lagos suburb, told The Nation that teachers are encouraged to give their best to attract new intakes.
“One thing about summer coaching is that every school get students who are not only their own but from other schools. Here, we don’t charge beyond N2,000; but most importantly, we encourage our teachers to be in attendance and give their best during lessons. I can tell you categorically that each summer coaching, we get between five and six pupils from other schools into this place,” he said.
Another teacher, who teaches Accounts in another secondary school, told of how his school won a pupil from a high flying competitor. He said the pupil enrolled for the summer in his school because of proximity to his home. He (the pupil) was won over after he (teacher) taught him Book Keeping.
The teacher said: “When I finished the lesson, this boy asked me how I got the skill to teach in such a way that he understood perfectly. He said even though his school charges very high tuition, yet pupils do not enjoy that kind of attention from their teachers, and many of them had even started complaining.
“The next day, this boy brought his mother to our school insisting he would love to switch over to our school. His argument was that he wanted to study Accounting in the university and would therefore find me a good companion. The mother did not have a choice but to allow it because the father lives in the U.S.”
Mrs Victoria Alabi, the Head Teacher of New Covenant Schools, Surulere, said the summer school allows parents thinking of changing their children’s schools opportunity to test the waters.
“In the primary section we involved them in debate, story-telling, dance, choreography and talks about themselves. We have pupils from other schools whose parents want to try us before their children resume so they can change them to our school; this is an opportunity. Right now we have a child like that here whose parents want us to evaluate him,” she said.
Da’wah Schools in Jakande Estate, Isolo, Lagos, has started organising summer schools to protect its pupil population. Its Head Teacher, Afolabi Abdulkabi said of the initiative: “What gave birth to summer lesson at Da’wah is when we discovered that during the two months break, our pupils go to other schools for lessons which may be substandard making it difficult to cope with them when they resume. In other to bridge this gap, we introduced the summer lesson.”
The school, he said, charges between N2,000 and N2,500 for the exercise.
“It used to be both recreational and academics when we had full-time fine arts and computer teacher, but since our fine arts and computer teachers are now on part time basis and have other engagements during the break, we didn’t include the recreational aspect in it this year,” he said.
Beyond increasing enrolment, schools also said they do summer programmes to prepare pupils for the new session. While some focus on academics, others make it more relaxed. The Principal of the Summer Rain Secondary School in Isolo, Lagos, Mr Walter Lawrence, said the pupils prepare for the next class and have fun as well.
“We want the children to have knowledge of what they will be taught in their next class and improve their knowledge on what they have been taught. The summer school is majorly for academics but we always add fun for them, especially the pupils who come from other schools to attend our lesson. We have a get together at the end to show them that they are welcomed anytime and we are accommodating,” he said.
At Supreme Educational Foundation (SEF) in Magodo, Lagos, which fee is high for the five-week programme given its elitist status, pupils engage in a variety of activities including swimming competitions, sports, excursion and some academics. A teacher at the school, Mr Kayode Abatan said many of the pupils participate in the programme, which is now in its third week.
“Many of our pupils are participating in swimming and sports competitions. They are also going on excursion to such places as Silverbird Galleria, National Theatre, and others. We have many of our pupils attending and even those from other schools. It is less of academics and more relaxed,” he said.
Mr Kayode Oni, Principal of Queensland Secondary School, Okota, a Lagos suburb, said his school’s programme is relaxed.
“We cannot close up the school so we must come up with a programme that will keep the school alive and the pupils want us to keep their mental state active. We organise the programme in a relaxed mood, not the kind of programme we organise during the normal school session. They study under a more relaxed atmosphere and interact with one another,” he said.
Parents: No worries about baby sitters or mischief
The Summer School comes at extra cost to the parents, but they do not seem to mind. For them, especially those employed in the formal sector, enrolling their children in summer schools frees them from the worries of keeping the younger ones productively engaged and reduces time spent making mischief.
Mrs Nonye Orakwe said her children are in school during the holidays because there is no one to stay with them when she and her husband are at work.
“After the lesson one of my children goes to the crèche while the other stays with someone,” she said.
Mr Okafor Igwe, a parent said children should not be left alone during the holidays because they are vulnerable.
He said: ”The dangers of leaving children all by themselves at home when the parents leave for work can be very alarming because then you cannot monitor their moves; the kind of films they watch, the friends they hang out with and also other unpleasant behaviours that children exhibit. To avoid this you send them to lesson because an idle man is the devil’s workshop.”
It is not only because of safe keeping that Mrs Orakwe patronises the summer school, which also serves to keep her older son off the couch watching TV.
She said: “I allow them to attend the lesson because when my son wakes up every morning, he wants to watch cartoons but since I have made it mandatory that when he wakes up he goes to the lesson, he has adjusted. He used to forget what was taught in school but these days, he remembers well because there is a follow up. I don’t have a house helps to they must attend the summer lesson. They are only at home when I am at home.”
Madam Perpetual Odumegwu also thinks summer schools are more beneficial than leaving children to watch TV.
“It makes the children refresh their brains. It also keeps them busy instead of being at home watching television. One day I visited my uncle; his daughter was on holidays and watching the television. She said: ‘Mummy is there is no Mercy Johnson in this film, I won’t watch oh.’ And when she saw Mercy Johnson, she was so happy. If she was in school for a summer coaching, she won’t be talking about Mercy Johnson,” she said.
For another parent, who simply identified himself as Mr Kolawole, attending summer school means his two sons will spend less time playing computer games on his cell phones.
“Since the long vacation began, I noticed that every morning, my two cell phones quickly run out of bars. Initially, I felt something was wrong with my phones. I was already thinking of taking it to a technician when I realised that it was the two phones that were running down together. I found out that my two sons usually pretended to be asleep at night, while exploring the games on my phones until dawn,” he said.
Though Mrs Chinwe Ome does not like summer school, said she enrolled two of her five children to have some respite while they are away.
“I do not like summer coaching because I believe the holiday is meant for resting. They can do their revision at home. I have five children but the two who are boys are attending the summer lesson because they give me problems. When they are gone to the lesson, the girls have a quiet house to themselves to do their reading,” she said.
Like Mrs Orakwe, many parents are also concerned about keeping their children academically fresh for a new session. Mrs Chinyere Akano believes the holidays are long enough for pupils to forget what they learnt while the school was in session.
“The holiday is a long one. I do not want them at home because they will forget what they learnt before the holiday. I want them to warm their brains up. They still have enough time to play because they have two weeks break from the lesson before school resumes. They also only attend the lessons from 9 to 12 so they have time to play after lesson. We also hope to travel when the lesson is over,” she said.
Even if children must be in school for the holidays, Mrs Bola Ogunwemimo, a parent, argues that the summer school should be more of vocational studies than academic.
“If I have my way, I think I will make it compulsory for summer lessons to dwell more on vocational studies rather than academics because during the school period academic is given preference and they even do after school lessons; so why will they still dwell on it? They should use this holiday period to focus more on developing the children skilfully and I also want schools to incorporate excursion and travels, take the children to places as part of the holiday fun,” she said.
Children and summer school
Pupils quite enjoy summer school than regular school for various reasons. Apart from the recreation infused into the programme, some said the rules are more relaxed.
Amaka John, a Senior Secondary (SS3) pupil of Ghazlak College, in Mafoluku, Oshodi, Lagos said they do no home works during the programme.
“Since there is no homework to tackle, I think there is more time to get to understand and improve. Summer lessons can give you the opportunity to make significant changes to enhance your academic performance. My challenge so far has been on maths, English and Biology and since I started this coaching I think they are becoming clearer to me,” she said.
Uche Percy, a Primary Six pupil of Tender Divine Seeds School, Okota said the teachers have more time for the pupils, adding that they don’t flog during the programme.
“They do not beat us in summer school but they give us punishment. If they give you mathematics to solve in summer school and you don’t understand, they will take out time and make sure you get it right. but in normal school, they won’t spend as much time spent in summer school,” he said.
