Extra-Classes: Why Tettey-Enyo Is Right

Extra-Classes: Why Tettey-Enyo is Right
Extra-classes has become a god every pupil must do obeisance before finishing JHS and SHS for the past fifteen years ago. It has become also the fountain of living water for a lot of teachers; that which was suppose to be a backyard garden is now the farm for some teachers. Extra-classes is a fashion now.

However here comes the bomb-blast in protest of extra-classes from no body other than the former director of GES and now the minister of Education, Alex Tettey-Enyo. In fact his declaration has received mixed reactions from the public. And listening carefully to the opponents of Tettey-Enyo declaration even convinced me that the man is right. Anyway these are some of the reasons against Tettey-Enyo's stance:

• It helps the pupil to finish up their syllabi
• When they close from school there is nothing for them do, thus extra-classes.

• When they are at home they disturb.
• It lifts the children who are a bit dole.
• It serves as source of income for teachers who are under paid.

The questions I raise are, are these concerns valid and can be addressed in the absence of extra-classes? On the other hand can we look at the problems extra-classes pose to our education system and the children? Mind you most countries in Africa have no extra-classes. Even here in Ghana there was a time extra-classes did not exist.

When I listened to the concerns of Tettey-Enyo's opponents, I started to imagine the future of children whose parents are avoiding them and thus pushing them into books. How do they grow in an integral way balancing academic and social life? Surely children who go through the hands of such parents will have sociological defect, either they will be stagnated or be forced to jump their stages of growth. This at the long run is a liability never an asset. They may have the credentials but are social nuisance or miscreants. Is that education?

Coming to the syllabi, I taught Mathematics and Agricultural Science for sometime and now even teaching religious education and can affirm that finishing the syllabus isn't a case here. What is needed is teacher-pupil discipline. In fact the real problem here is the fact those teachers who have extra-classes come to school the following day tired and therefore take classes hours to rest. Another problem the extra-classes pose to finishing the syllabi is that some teachers intentionally don't teach during class but exhibit all their God given talents during extra-classes hours to attract more students. Thus those who don't attend extra-classes don't finish their syllabi.

Those who contend it lifts up dole children might be thinking half-right. The concentration of children is very short, now to pile children who could not even concentrate in the morning during classes after a whole night rest with extra-classes in the hot-scotching afternoon, must be a great joke. Aside, the dole child needs to repeat or go over that which he/she didn't get during classes several times in order to get it. When do they get the chance to do that? They are only bombarded with other new things that leave them wandering in limbo.

Note also that, it is with the excuse of extra-classes that most children go wayward, at times get impregnated.

Psychologically, children need time to play, to relax, to receive parental touch, to socialize, to digest what they have learnt and to live their developmental stage. Whenever any of these is thwarted, the child encounters a developmental deficiency which cost a lot latter.

The Tettey-Enyo is right, the children are not book-animals they are human beings who need to develop and grow as human beings, if we can not form them, lets not deform them.

Yirpaale Sondah
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