Two weeks into the closure of schools in Kebbi, Bauchi, among other northern states, because of Ramadan, the decision of the states? authorities has continued to generate uneasiness among the citizens.

Some teachers who spoke with Saturday Tribune expressed displeasure, describing the closures as unhelpful for the educational fortune of the state which is grappling with poor performances of students in external examinations.

A senior secondary school teacher said the government?s action was uncalled for, calling it disruptive to the academic curriculum.

The teacher who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, ?The closure has really affected us. Schools are to run for eleven weeks and we have not exhausted the syllabus. They had to rush us to conduct exams and the exams were poorly conducted because the students were not given the opportunity to prepare adequately. They had not really digested what they had learnt.

?Schools had just spent eight weeks before the closure and this has had repercussions for the teachers and pupils. Teachers had only taught three topics before the exams, so nothing tangible had really been taught. Their scripts were very poor because they did not write what they were supposed to write for exams.

?The SS3 students that are preparing for their final exams are particularly badly affected. That exams start in April. As we resume classes, exams start. This would mean that those who are reading at home would do well for themselves and the lazy ones will be in for it.

?There are topics which had not been taught before this interruption and those topics always come out in WAEC exams every year. This will adversely affect the students because of poor preparation.?

Mr. Adejare Adekoya, a private school parent, told Saturday Tribune that the majority of the parents, Muslims or Christians alike, are not happy over the schools closure because this is not what they bargained for.

?The private schools are worst affected because of the fees. Parents who have paid would not be happy because the schools have not gone halfway. This closure has caused a lot of distress to parents, especially those who have paid their children?s school fees, because they will not get a refund,? Adekoya said.

Another senior public school teacher, who is also a parent, said, ?I feel so bad because this will cause next term?s work to be cumbersome which will be 14 to 15 weeks because what should have been taught this term will be carried into next term.

?This will be so painful to the teachers in the sense that students who are struggling with their academic works will find it more difficult next term. Again, when schools resume, the students would come back immediately. Some of them would stay back for two weeks before they return to school after the Sallah celebration. In every sense of it, it will not pay the teachers and it will not pay the students as well.

?The solution is that when it comes to the education of our children, religion should be removed. As much as we want to respect our right to worship, we should also respect our right to education. The level of the growth of a country depends on the educational attainment of that country.?

Also, the state branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) described as unfair and unjust the closure of schools for Ramadan fasting.

The state chairman of the association, Venerable Dr. Ayuba Kanta, who made the position of Christian body known, said the state government took the decision without consulting with the relevant stakeholders.

Dr. Kanta accused the state government of seeing Christians in the state as insignificant, noting that the closure of schools is affecting not only Christians but even Muslim pupils ?in a state that is already educationally backward.?

He said the state government which didn?t close markets or other public facilities should have just reduced the operational hours instead of totally shutting down the schools. ?The closure, to me, is political, not religious in whatever form. It is not acceptable to us,? he said.

Bauchi parents, teachers, others lament

Two weeks after the compulsory closure of primary and secondary schools, both public and private, stakeholders, including parents and teachers, in Bauchi State have continue to lament the situation, describing it as most unfortunate.

Some of the people who spoke with Saturday Tribute called the development a setback to the development of the state?s education sector.

Mrs. Lydia Dogara, a parent in the Gwallameji area of Bauchi, has four schoolchildren. She expressed regret over the situation, saying that it has no meaning or importance to her family.

She said, ?My four children are at home doing nothing. They play from morning to evening, eating in-between. To me, the compulsory holiday has no meaning at all. The government should not try it next time.?

Another parent, Ayuba Bako, who resides in the Yalwa area of Bauchi, said the compulsory holiday came to him as a surprise because it was the first time it happened in the state.

Asserting that children would not gain anything significant thing while at home, Bako said he was concerned for students in the final classes, considering that their exams are just close by.

He wondered how the students are expected to write the exams and pass, having lost one full month at home doing nothing but running around.

The headteacher of one of the private schools who wanted to be called Mr Mike opined that there was no rationale behind closing down schools for the period of Ramadan which is purely a religious issue.

He said, ?It is not heard of where schools were closed for 40 days, not on normal holidays of the school calendar. The government is just toying with the future of these children.

?The government should have just reduced the school timing as was done in previous years. I don?t think it will be easy to regain the time lost before the examinations.?

Mrs. Hauwa who teaches in one of the special schools expressed fear that the students might not catch up with the syllabus before the examination which is fast approaching.

She stressed that the development would put undue pressure on teachers to do magic in ensuring that the students live up to expectations. ?There is no any magic that can be done by the teachers,? she noted.

Mrs. Hauwa appealed to the government to always put the children into consideration while taking any decisions that may impact negatively on their future.

Also reacting to the development, Idowu Samson of Rafin Zurfi area lamented that his children are losing a lot academically as all they do is sleep, wake up, eat, play and sleep again.

Others who spoke on the development expressed anger that they, as main stakeholders in the education sector, were not consulted when the government was taking the decision to close the schools.

They agreed in separate interviews that the closure was unnecessary, calling it a disruption of the normal school calendar in one of the leading states in terms of out-of-school children in the country. (Saturday Tribune)

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