My First Day at School-Childhood Memories
Does anyone remember the first day in school? I feel it is a nice thing to go back and memorize how it went. For some of you who are fortunate to go to pre-school education, it would be hard to remember as you may be so young to remind. For a person like me who grow-up in a very remote rural area without having prepared for schooling, without going to kindergarten, it is very easy to travel back to the memory of life; it is like a fresh memory as if it was yesterday. It is believed that education is the key to development. Yes, it is the universal truth. For me as an individual who escaped huge barriers that stand before my way to education, I believe education is the key to life. That is why I love my education projects that support hard-to-reach children in remote rural villages some 800Km away from the capital city, Addis Ababa. Whenever I see those innocent children who travel long distances to quench their thirst for education, I often find my eyes watering. That was the life I went through.
My first day in education was so intense. When I think back how come as a child I survived and decided to continue my schooling the second day in that school was just a miracle. I remember it was late when my uneducated father sent me to school; maybe a month later than other children had started classes. The reason was that there is a dangerous river, that ate the lives of many every summer, between my village and my school; the school that the Swedish government had generously built at remote villages. Many Ethiopian educated fellow friends of that day and before are very grateful to the favor of the Swedish Government’s Education project called ESBU; Ethiopian Schools Building Unit. I am one of them. Had the school was not there, you would not have read this post now. I and my children would have struggled with the same life cycle as my parents and grandparents did. That is why the schools built by my education projects always inspire me to do my job better as much as I can.
Follow me on my first day at school! It was intense.
When I entered my Grade 1 classroom, I remember the desk was full and a large number of children sat on the dusty ground. I remember it could be more than 140 children in one room. The classroom was full including the entrance door. The teacher had very little space to stand. I was so confused as I had no place to seat. I stood at the classroom door and had no idea what to do. One child whom I do not remember his name told me to take a seat on the ground like other students because the desks are already full. And I sat at the place where I was standing.
The first class was on Math. I remember the face and color of that math teacher till now. He had bald hair with dark skin. He dressed neatly in black pants and a white shirt. He was serious as many old teachers used to be. He started asking with ‘who is the student who did not do his/her homework today?’ I hardly heard what the teacher was talking about because the medium of instruction was different from my mother tongue. All students said ‘we have done the homework teacher!’. But, I had no idea what the homework is. And, one student told to the teacher saying ‘teacher, teacher, this student did not do his homework’. It was me. That student knew that I am the new entrant. But, the teacher had not known that I am the new entrant student.
The teacher asked me to come in front of all those children. Imagine how frustrating it was to stand in front of those children as a new student. They all laughed at me standing in front of them. Imagine seeing all children laughing at him standing inform of the classroom for a child who couldn't understand the language. I had no idea what to do. I was acting like a lost monkey baby who missed her mother and caught by men. My eyes were rounding here and there. Or, it was like I was an innocent criminal who was judged guilty and receiving justice in front of the crowd. Imagine that it is your child who is receiving an unfair judgment at school without any disciplinary fault. It was completely a different experience in life. That may be the day I started developing social anxiety to stand and speak in front of any crowd. The teacher didn’t ask me why I didn't do my homework. And I had no clue to tell my teacher about what the homework means.
He brought an electric wire and whipped my calf side of my legs many times. Like any child, I dressed in short pants above the knees. So, teachers usually whip the calf side of children's legs. He beat me until he got tired. After he finished nibbling me, I saw my legs were bleeding. I never had this type of injury during my childhood. All children were still laughing at me while I even was crying.
Whenever I go to school in remote rural villages to visit my education projects in Ethiopia, the first thing I do is check is whether any teacher holds a stick or not. Because this always reminds me of my childhood experience. The way teachers follow to discipline children is often wrong. While schools do not have a written code of conduct to help children discipline themselves, teachers and school guards prefer running to find a stick to punish students. That is one of the reasons that push many children to leave schooling. This type of serious punishment act has the potential to separate children from their long-term dreams. My immediate advice to the school community is to have a simple code of conduct to empower children during their stay at school. This measure will stop hurting and improve children's safety during their time at school.
Let me take you back to the story I started.
How can you decide to go to school the next day after such a level of harassment? Will you dare to do so? The next morning, I became so confused about whether I should go to school or not. On one hand, I love going to school. It was the blessing of my father who sacrificed my support in farming and allowed me to go to school. It had been my big dream I was wishing when I see some children going to and coming from school. I used to ask those school children about what the school looks like. Before I go to school, I never think the school is a room with the combined disks. I used to think the school is a different thing until my father sent me and see it. This all came from my huge interest to go to school.
On the other hand, my legs were wounded and it was so painful to walk during the chilly morning. Thirdly, I think of that cruel teacher who has beaten me mercilessly. Fortunately, my older brother was attending the same school. He is much older than me. He convinced me about the importance of schooling than being a farmer. He also told me that all teachers are not bad. He said, 'even the teacher who beat you is no bad.' He also promised me nothing bad will encounter me at school in the future. He was able to convince me by explaining the importance of schooling than being a farmer.
Finally, I decided to go to school. My brother taught me many school rules and then I was able to continue my education. Later, I started loving going to school and performed better in classes. Sadly, out of those children who started the first class with me, it was only two students who were able to finish high school. Luckily both of us are able to graduate from university.
A key take point here is for teachers and the education system in general. A poorly dressed child we see today walking barefoot may become a scientist or a president tomorrow. He or she may bring a solution to the sufferings of this world. Do not treat any person based on the situation or appearance you see today. Instead, try to see a tremendously positive life waiting before him/her and serve him/her as a bridge to help him/her pass and go. I remember my genius classmates who missed their opportunity due to such an unfriendly education system that did not support their growth.
Another key point here is <education for all> is not as easy ambition as it is presented in three words. It needs multidimensional efforts to make this happen. There are millions of children today who are going the same way as I /we went through some 30 years ago. They are pushing mountain rocks of barriers to quench their thirst for education. Even today, children learn in deteriorated classrooms, they have no adequate number of books and they still walk long distances for education. The quality of education has shown a decline as compared to the status it used to be before. Many agencies reported the education system is under a learning crisis.
Education cannot be an overnight output. It has the same nature as to how human beings are nurtured and developed. We cannot firefight to achieve educational results. It requires a coordinated effort and a clear blueprint of where to go to achieve the impact of education on the development of a country. In fact, the education curriculum we design for a nation can easily define the long-term fate of a nation. If the education system is devised to benefit a certain political party, like the case of Ethiopia where the ethnic divide is used as a tool to separate different ethnic groups, education will have the other side of the sword to kill a country. It means education will serve to produce educated devils. But, if education is structured in a clean slate, it will save a nation and its citizens. If the global community is able to support the education system much better than the rest of social service with a very humanitarian intention, then we can produce a global citizen to see a better future.