The issue of extra lessons in schools has been with us for quite a while and has caused much concern among educators, education officials, parents and wider society and therefore it has to be addressed in a comprehensive manner with a view to bring permanent closure to it. In this regard it was heartening to hear that Education Minister Shaik Baksh recently vowed to pay greater attention to address the problem sooner than later.
He is of the view that the practice is being forced on students in a subtle way and pointed out that students at Bishops’ High, Queen’s College and the other top schools in the country do not need extra lessons once teachers deliver adequately in the classroom. The minister is perfectly right except to add that extra lessons should not be needed in any school.
He lamented that about 60 to 70 per cent of students at the top schools attend extra lessons and some teachers have been making a big business out of the scheme.
The minister stressed that while the Ministry of Education cannot stop paid lessons after school, head teachers should make a concerted effort to ensure that their teachers do not only cover their syllabuses, but also deliver effectively in the classroom.
He said that the Ministry of Education is concerned about the situation as the practice puts too much burden on students, noting that it takes away their time to engage in physical education, sports and the arts, which are also important disciplines to mould them into rounded individuals.
Extra lessons have caused more problems than it has solved especially with respect to discipline of students and it has also saddled parents with greater financial problems and logistical difficulties.
One of the major underlying factors which has given rise to extra lessons is that many teachers deliberately neglect students in the classroom so as to force them into taking extra lessons thereby earning teachers handsome financial rewards.
In fact, some teachers boast that they make more money from extra lessons than their salaries. So the cycle of greed propels them on to continue exploiting students and their parents.
So the Education Ministry needs to monitor and deal with those teachers who are under performing in the classrooms.
From the other side of the coin, some parents genuinely but erroneously believe that extra lessons are good for their children and that will help them to excel at examinations.
Another aspect of the extra lessons phenomenon is that many students woo their parents into sending them to these classes because they use them as a cover to get involved in other activities.
The fact of the matter is that students need all round development and as such they need to have enough recreation time, to be involved in physical activities like sports and they need enough rest. When they attend extra lessons they are deprived of enjoying all of this, and instead their mental system is over taxed which is harmful in the long term.
From a nutritional standpoint because most of them do not reach home until late in the evenings after extra lessons they go without food for long hours and if they do eat something it would be mostly junk food. And for the young proper nutrition is essential for their physical and mental development.
So the harmful effects of extra lessons far outweigh whatever tiny benefits they may bring and therefore the entire society should work towards discouraging this practice which certainly has become a major problem within the education system.
To deal with it a two-pronged is required. First those teachers who create the pre-conditions for having extra lessons have to be dealt with firmly and simultaneously educate parents and students about harmful effects of extra lessons.