Early school life
Beginning 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 school
As 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.
