Today, I spent some time typing up a list of expectations for the teachers at our school on the compound… Expectations like showing up and starting class on time, actually teaching, remaining with the students, and taking no more than one 30 minute break during the 4.5 hour workday… The list of expectations also advised them to keep the children in class. We’ll see if this list makes any practical difference in the state of affairs I described in last week’s rant.
Well, in other educational news, some of the local Sudanese teachers have the gall to make their students memorize their own original poetry. The following poem is sure to become a classic, written by a teacher at Kanjaro Primary School:
Education
by Teacher Jacob
Education. Education. Education.
What is education?
People say it is ears and eyes open.
Others say it is pain and book.
(Thank you, Mrs. Meyers for not subjecting me to the poetic ramblings of your own ego, and making me memorize Frost, Carmichael, Robinson, Melville, and Shakespeare- to name a few!)
