A Yoruba proverb says, " One person gives birth, but everybody minds the child"(Ẹnìkan ní í bímọ ;gbogbo ayé ní í bá a wò ó). Note that the proverb does not say "everybody else". "Everybody" here includes the parents, teachers, relatives, neighbours, pastors, etc and even the child himself or herself. Teachers, parents and students all have their roles to play in the educational development of students.
THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER.
🔯 Have a thorough knowledge of the subject and prepare for your lessons adequately.
🔯 Go for your lessons without waiting to be reminded by the students. Set alarms on your phone for your lessons ,if need be. Even at the university level, each lecturer is already waiting at the door about 10 minutes to the end of the previous lecture.
🔯 Write the notes yourself on the chalkboard. If you hand over your lesson note to a student to copy it on the chalkboard, when will he/she write his/her own notes? The student will also see your senior colleagues' correction of your lesson notes in red biro and start disrespecting you.
🔯 Explain the subject matter, answer the students' questions, ask them questions, give them written exercises and mark the exercises yourself.
🔯 Set, mark and record test and exam questions accurately.
🔯 Recommend good textbooks for the students.
THE ROLE OF THE PARENT.
Another Yoruba proverb says, " The owner of a load carries the heavier part" (Ẹlẹ́rù ní í gbé e níbi tó ti wúwo).
🔯 Do not have more children than you can adequately feed, clothe, shelter and educate. Even God did family planning back in Eden. Even with His limitless resources, He created only 2 people, who produced today's 8 billion people worldwide.
🔯 Choose a school whose fees you can afford and pay your children's school fees on time. No teacher will toy with his or her salary by begging the proprietor to let your child stay in school. Your child cannot be academically sound if he spends more days outside the school than within. He can also fall into bad company while loitering the streets.
🔯 Similarly, choose a nearby school for your child. Why should your child spend hours in transit and fall asleep on getting to school? There is always a vacancy for students in every school!
🔯 Buy good textbooks for your children.
🔯 Ensure that your child does his or her homework every day before doing anything else. No teacher can go round the homes of all his students to do this. Neither can he afford to waste 20 minutes out of a 45-minute period waiting for a child who is just reading yesterday's notes and studying the examples before doing yesterday's homework. He will have to leave your child behind after marking his mates' work to do the corrections and begin today's work. Don't come to school to complain over this. Do YOUR job.
🔯 You are your child's primary moral educator, though teachers and pastors may assist you here. The parent:child ratio is always more favourable than the teacher:student and pastor:member ratios. Besides, most children rebel against outsiders' discipline unless it is reinforced by their own parents. Teachers and pastors will come and go, your children will progress from one level of education to the next but you will always be their parent. They also bear YOUR surname. You are their first and only permanent educator. Give them HOME training.
Do the above duties and watch your child perform excellently in any school he or she attends. The "best" school won't be of help if you fail to do your duties. Even "Heaven helps only those who help themselves".
THE ROLE OF THE STUDENT.
Yet another Yorùbá proverb says, "Only a child with outstretched arms can be lifted up by even his mother" (ọmọ tó bá ṣí'pá nìyá ẹ̀ ń gbé).
After your parents and teachers have done their duties, you have to help yourself before Heaven can help you. Nobody can read your books for you or legitimately write your examinations for you.
🔯 Come to school on time and don't absent yourself from classes.
🔯 Do your homework first on getting home, before doing anything else.
🔯 Remind your parents to pay your school fees, especially when they are planning to buy expensive cloths, organise big parties,etc.
🔯 As an above-average student, you are likely to finish writing your notes and doing your classwork earlier than the others. Use the waiting period to study your textbooks and do the homework you have been given earlier in other subjects, instead of disrupting the class out of boredom. The teacher has to carry everybody along.
🔯 If you are below average, make friends with your brighter colleagues and learn from them. Also, spend extra time at home reading your books (including those of lower classes) to regain lost grounds, especially at weekends and during holidays. Don't expect your teachers to fully teach you a lower grade's work.
🔯 Never depend on examination malpractice. You may be disappointed at the last minute by your "helpers" due to strict supervision. Even if you successfully cheat your way through school, who will help you do your job (especially as a teacher)? Will you be able to give your children extra lessons or have to hire exam "helpers" for them later in life? Exam "helpers" are actually helping you to cheat yourself.
💎 By the way, a mercenary (or soldier of fortune) is "a soldier who will fight for any country or group that offers payment", not a person who helps a student to cheat in an exam.
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