Thrills and spills of Tswana-medium education

| Friday July 12, 2013 00:00

 

Early school lifeBeginning primary school as a naive little child years ago was scary. The routine that was involved however was usually learned very fast. The aided waking up and baths; the occasional butchering of often, surprisingly - now that I think about it, English songs at morning assembly. I look back and laugh as I remember the absurd lyrics we imagined out loud for some of those songs. Then of course there was the serious matter of the classroom and getting used to the teacher. I cannot help but feel early grade teachers were not equipped enough for early graders. They were unapproachable and mostly mean ladies who offered disproportionate retribution to little misdemeanours by young souls. This usually set off a chain reaction induced by fear of the teacher. Some of the products were soiled or wet pants, very early school dropouts, shaky foundations upon which to lay self-esteem and tears. Usually when the student felt hard done by, he was not helped by the lackadaisical attitude of most of our home caregivers back then towards education.

Middle to late primary schoolAs the school environment became second nature, life became more fun. There was the little matter of hurdling over what we called 'the papers from Gaborone' at Standard Four. Failure to do so usually attracted ridicule from peers and parents. I think failing the Standard Four examinations was one of the contributors to age cheating in sporting and athletic activities at primary school and beyond. In this reminiscent mood I recognise a few tendencies that don't sit well with me now and some of which were niggling back then. Some of these activities I realise were borne out of necessity but they were unhealthy. At one primary school we picked stones and aggregated them after morning assembly. These were later sold by the school for use in construction concrete. At my second primary school, we had to each bring wood every morning for use in cooking. Without going into hyperbole and imagining the frequent use of stones as replacement toilet paper back in the day, it does not take a genius to realise how unhealthy the practice was. The most hygienic minds did not certainly belong amongst primary school pupils therefore these hands that picked up all sorts of germs were not washed before the unvaried meals.

The meals were not delightful but we ate them anyway without worry. If not plain porridge, we were fed beans.There are plenty of memories associated with school meals, from the pushing and shoving to the beans related 'air conditioning' that a select boys club revelled in after the break. There were various ways of sweetening the porridge among them stealing sugar from home or buying some sweet-aid to alter the flavour. The meals were not the only thing that lacked variety back in primary school.There was very little in the way of choice in extra-curricular activities. The ones you wanted to partake in were difficult to get into like play football for the school team. However, those you did not want were forced upon you. The hard heads usually needed a little painful assistance on the buttocks to direct them towards a particular activity. Chief amongst these activities were singing in school choirs and athletics.

Junior school and laterA new experience was brought by walking through the gates of a junior secondary school. You looked forward to a lot of things you had only heard about, like eating a fat slice of bread. Yes, food occasionally featured more on the agenda than books. For a change there was variety amongst the junior school menu. There was also that particular day I think was planned to combat absenteeism when chicken featured on the menu. Bullying seemed like a rite of passage that was allowed to fester. Apart from it, the new experiences involved having a single teacher dedicated to each of your subjects instead of the jack-of-all-trades that was the primary school teacher.You also learnt something new about primary school life if you happened to become classmates with a few guys and girls who had been through an English medium primary school. These 'privileged' guys used to regale us with tales of computers, internet, and some extra-curricular activities we never thought belonged at primary, never mind junior schools. In fact I'm going to throw senior schools in there too.

After you heard their tales you either became their friend or avoided them. We went through the whole JC without touching a computer. I think even the teachers were afraid of computers. The English medium students had a head start for later life general computer literacy and ease around related technology in this regard. It was easy to compare and contrast with them because they were different. They were more knowledgeable, confident (or cocky) and usually made the debate team. They made you realise some of what you missed out on in primary. On a lighter note, I cannot fathom the purpose of the Play of Oliver Twist, a book we were made to read as part of the English lessons. Was it meant to give us dangerous flashbacks as it clearly referenced the 'gruel' we were made to eat at primary school? I guess we will never know but it's worth a giggle.The Tswana medium school show a lot of deficiencies that perhaps government recognises seeing as even the syllabi were given an overhaul in 2008 to give a 21st Century appeal. I would still not trade the memories and experiences for much else but gold.