CASE STUDY
Of course, we all know it is the sick that seeks the Physician. This is why I always expose our problems to the world in search for and in a bid to find solutions to them. The outcome of the Teach A Man To Fish (TAMTF) grant is to support the Ikpe Udok Rural Education project. Some may be skeptic about their gesture, thinking we may not be sincere or so, since Nigerians are erroneously believed to be all corrupt. Remembering the way a character in one of the Literature texts I read in my Secondary School years ago put it, he said, “Africa is corrupt through and through”, though this is nothing but a fallacy. This case study is going to portray just a little bit of the true educational situation in my community and why ASCA initiated and launched the educational project which now leads it into farming as a business in order to generate enough funds for the project, and of course, why it entered the Schools for Rural Entrepreneurs grant competition of TAMTF and won it by divine providence. Perhaps, it is a message to the skeptics and doubters. You are welcome on board.
As mentioned in my previous outing, students are on long vacation and Ikpe Udok Extra-mural Class (EMC) is on course as usual, but with a difference in course content. In times like this, we used to make up for the loss grounds in the various subjects they study in School, but having observed and noticed things happening in the educational environments of our children and the attendant negative effects on them, ASCA decided to launch what we call, “Stop Back Literacy (SBL)”, initiated by the youth wing of the Association. It has been observed with dismay that majority of students at all levels of education in the community cannot read and write while in school and thereafter. Because of this, they are missing out in the scheme of things, since English Language is our Lingua franca. We want to go back to the drawing board of literacy to see where we derailed and make up for the loss so that our youth can compete favourably with their contemporaries in quiz competitions, debates, essay writing/competitions, writing of minutes, formal and informal letters, book keeping and in all walks of life. This they can do, only after they might have been able to place letters to form words, and combine words to make
sentences. For instance, my little nephew who has been benefiting from the extramural class right from when he was in Primary School has now formed the culture of reading and writing, hence, in his Junior Secondary School, Year 2 (JSS2) he started with writing a drama book entitled “Godly Advice Provides Best Solution.” This is the kind of outcomes the Stop Back Literacy seeks to promote, encourage and produce. Sponsors and volunteers are therefore needed.
Here comes the Case Study proper. It was on Saturday, the 18th August 2007, a Senior Secondary School, Year 1 (SSS1) student, who has passed her promotion examinations and promoted to SSS2 to begin this September, came to me. Why we were interacting, on the Stop Back Literacy, she said to me, “Sir, I don’t know how to write application”. I responded, “Were you not taught how to write formal letter?”, “Yes, our teacher only taught us types of letter writing, but didn’t show us how to write.” She replied. I then excused myself to take their English reader to see if the topic was there and I found one. Though I’m not an English teacher, yet with my sense of English language and experience in writing, I drilled her to the best of my ability on how to write application for different purposes. I opened the text they used in SSS1, Intensive English for Senior Secondary Schools, pages 1 to 65, where I showed her example of a formal letter/application. She was introduced to the various parts of the letter as set in the example namely, writer’s address, date, receiver’s designation/address, official salutation, title/ body of letter, complimentary close, and writer’s signature/full name. I showed and explained to her a type of such letter in page 83 after which I gave her home work which was for her to use her words, follow the same example I showed her and write a similar letter, which she did. I sat with her, read through her letter and made simple corrections but told her that I would refer her letter to an English expert to mark it, pointing out her mistakes and giving the corrections she would take. The girl is apt at picking up new tasks.
Well-to-do parents pay for their wards to be taught at home or in organised extra-mural classes in town/villages, but the rural children do not enjoy such luxury. There is this Primary School pupil that has been hawking “Akara” (made from black-eye beans) for her grand mother in the village. Last week I invited her to the extra-mural classes, but she said she would not come. When I asked her why, she sincerely confessed that she would not have money to pay. I encouraged her to come, that we do not charge fees and it is free. There are many others like that who cannot afford commercial extra-mural classes but would be willing to learn the more.
This case study unravels the deed that vindicates our wisdom of organising such classes for the students, and introducing the Stop Back Literacy to the community, not presuming that the students go to (formal) School. On the other hand, it vindicates the wisdom of TAMTF giving ASCA the grant with a view to raising funds to support the Ikpe Udok Rural Education project which is, of course, capital intensive. Bravo, Teach A Man To Fish!
So far three government employed teachers from the community have offered to volunteer their services to the Stop Back Literacy. This is grossly inadequate considering the work load on ground. The inaugural class of the SBL was for stock taking to develop course contents of the project. The problems and short comings of each student in the areas of reading and writing were diagnosed by interviewing them. This was quite successful because the five factors of learning (FFL) namely, Democracy, Willingness, Readiness, Usefulness and Learning by doing were put across to them. This took away shyness, timidity and shame from them so they opened up very well. The problems identified ranged from spelling, punctuation, pronunciation, paragraphing, reading speed to syllables and reading competence etc. This distinguishes ours from the schools the students attend who do not bother to take such pain. We intend to take study group approach and it is going to be student centred. The FFL would be harnessed to create a good teaching/learning atmosphere and strengthen student-teacher rapport as well as establishing attitudinal equilibrium between the different classes of intelligence.
Individualisation teaching method would pay off here but for lack of enough teachers to handle the different classes of intelligence and all of that. As Jesus the Christ observed and admonished, the field is ripe but the reapers are few. So we are praying for public spirited individuals and organisations, from home and abroad to send us reapers, be it in cash or in kind. We need to employ experts to handle the various problems of the students but we cannot afford it. For the time being, since what is desirable is not affordable, what is affordable becomes desirable.
We shall take time out to teach Farming as a business and expose the students to good farm practices in this second planting season. The UNIUYO SIFE Bankruptcy Game (to enhance business/financial acumen) and SDN Be a Life Model project (for Ethics and character building), will equally be touched on as much as time permits during the EMC.
Now, Farm News! So far the students on vacation has helped in transplanting pepper seedlings
to one plot and second planting of maize on three plots of land. Others got involved in the harvest of garden eggs and maize and fluted pumpkin leaves. They also helped in transporting the produce on wheelbarrow and bicycle and in preparing them for sale. The students are billed to be involved in weeding, fencing, composting, pineapple planting and spraying of insecticides too, but adverse weather is not helping matters. It has been raining from the first week of August till this month ending. Clearing, planting, application of manure, weeding and other activities are seriously hindered this second planting season.
Nevertheless, the project is on course. Meanwhile the first harvest and sale of garden eggs has
been done. The students also learnt the spot method of fertilizer/manure application on the garden egg/pepper plots. Farm Office and some farm tools are being procured e.g. Scale. Use of scale to measure farm produce harvested and sold is quite a new experience here in the rural setting.
The first garden egg fruits harvested weighed 3 Kg, The second and third carried 7 Kg and 26.5 Kg respectively. That way harvest will increase into bags. Of course, increase in harvest is directly proportional to sales.
As mentioned in my previous outing, students are on long vacation and Ikpe Udok Extra-mural Class (EMC) is on course as usual, but with a difference in course content. In times like this, we used to make up for the loss grounds in the various subjects they study in School, but having observed and noticed things happening in the educational environments of our children and the attendant negative effects on them, ASCA decided to launch what we call, “Stop Back Literacy (SBL)”, initiated by the youth wing of the Association. It has been observed with dismay that majority of students at all levels of education in the community cannot read and write while in school and thereafter. Because of this, they are missing out in the scheme of things, since English Language is our Lingua franca. We want to go back to the drawing board of literacy to see where we derailed and make up for the loss so that our youth can compete favourably with their contemporaries in quiz competitions, debates, essay writing/competitions, writing of minutes, formal and informal letters, book keeping and in all walks of life. This they can do, only after they might have been able to place letters to form words, and combine words to make
sentences. For instance, my little nephew who has been benefiting from the extramural class right from when he was in Primary School has now formed the culture of reading and writing, hence, in his Junior Secondary School, Year 2 (JSS2) he started with writing a drama book entitled “Godly Advice Provides Best Solution.” This is the kind of outcomes the Stop Back Literacy seeks to promote, encourage and produce. Sponsors and volunteers are therefore needed.Here comes the Case Study proper. It was on Saturday, the 18th August 2007, a Senior Secondary School, Year 1 (SSS1) student, who has passed her promotion examinations and promoted to SSS2 to begin this September, came to me. Why we were interacting, on the Stop Back Literacy, she said to me, “Sir, I don’t know how to write application”. I responded, “Were you not taught how to write formal letter?”, “Yes, our teacher only taught us types of letter writing, but didn’t show us how to write.” She replied. I then excused myself to take their English reader to see if the topic was there and I found one. Though I’m not an English teacher, yet with my sense of English language and experience in writing, I drilled her to the best of my ability on how to write application for different purposes. I opened the text they used in SSS1, Intensive English for Senior Secondary Schools, pages 1 to 65, where I showed her example of a formal letter/application. She was introduced to the various parts of the letter as set in the example namely, writer’s address, date, receiver’s designation/address, official salutation, title/ body of letter, complimentary close, and writer’s signature/full name. I showed and explained to her a type of such letter in page 83 after which I gave her home work which was for her to use her words, follow the same example I showed her and write a similar letter, which she did. I sat with her, read through her letter and made simple corrections but told her that I would refer her letter to an English expert to mark it, pointing out her mistakes and giving the corrections she would take. The girl is apt at picking up new tasks.
Well-to-do parents pay for their wards to be taught at home or in organised extra-mural classes in town/villages, but the rural children do not enjoy such luxury. There is this Primary School pupil that has been hawking “Akara” (made from black-eye beans) for her grand mother in the village. Last week I invited her to the extra-mural classes, but she said she would not come. When I asked her why, she sincerely confessed that she would not have money to pay. I encouraged her to come, that we do not charge fees and it is free. There are many others like that who cannot afford commercial extra-mural classes but would be willing to learn the more.
This case study unravels the deed that vindicates our wisdom of organising such classes for the students, and introducing the Stop Back Literacy to the community, not presuming that the students go to (formal) School. On the other hand, it vindicates the wisdom of TAMTF giving ASCA the grant with a view to raising funds to support the Ikpe Udok Rural Education project which is, of course, capital intensive. Bravo, Teach A Man To Fish!
So far three government employed teachers from the community have offered to volunteer their services to the Stop Back Literacy. This is grossly inadequate considering the work load on ground. The inaugural class of the SBL was for stock taking to develop course contents of the project. The problems and short comings of each student in the areas of reading and writing were diagnosed by interviewing them. This was quite successful because the five factors of learning (FFL) namely, Democracy, Willingness, Readiness, Usefulness and Learning by doing were put across to them. This took away shyness, timidity and shame from them so they opened up very well. The problems identified ranged from spelling, punctuation, pronunciation, paragraphing, reading speed to syllables and reading competence etc. This distinguishes ours from the schools the students attend who do not bother to take such pain. We intend to take study group approach and it is going to be student centred. The FFL would be harnessed to create a good teaching/learning atmosphere and strengthen student-teacher rapport as well as establishing attitudinal equilibrium between the different classes of intelligence.
Individualisation teaching method would pay off here but for lack of enough teachers to handle the different classes of intelligence and all of that. As Jesus the Christ observed and admonished, the field is ripe but the reapers are few. So we are praying for public spirited individuals and organisations, from home and abroad to send us reapers, be it in cash or in kind. We need to employ experts to handle the various problems of the students but we cannot afford it. For the time being, since what is desirable is not affordable, what is affordable becomes desirable.
We shall take time out to teach Farming as a business and expose the students to good farm practices in this second planting season. The UNIUYO SIFE Bankruptcy Game (to enhance business/financial acumen) and SDN Be a Life Model project (for Ethics and character building), will equally be touched on as much as time permits during the EMC.
Now, Farm News! So far the students on vacation has helped in transplanting pepper seedlings
to one plot and second planting of maize on three plots of land. Others got involved in the harvest of garden eggs and maize and fluted pumpkin leaves. They also helped in transporting the produce on wheelbarrow and bicycle and in preparing them for sale. The students are billed to be involved in weeding, fencing, composting, pineapple planting and spraying of insecticides too, but adverse weather is not helping matters. It has been raining from the first week of August till this month ending. Clearing, planting, application of manure, weeding and other activities are seriously hindered this second planting season.Nevertheless, the project is on course. Meanwhile the first harvest and sale of garden eggs has
been done. The students also learnt the spot method of fertilizer/manure application on the garden egg/pepper plots. Farm Office and some farm tools are being procured e.g. Scale. Use of scale to measure farm produce harvested and sold is quite a new experience here in the rural setting.The first garden egg fruits harvested weighed 3 Kg, The second and third carried 7 Kg and 26.5 Kg respectively. That way harvest will increase into bags. Of course, increase in harvest is directly proportional to sales.
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