Photo: Abuja School Where Kids Learn Under The Tree

8 years ago

Photo: Abuja School Where Kids Learn Under The Tree

The chant of their learning by rote tears the air around. The children learn in an environment characterized by dirt, foul odour and outdoors; yet, they recite the lines handed out by their teacher excitedly with their eyes readily fixed on the teacher for more instructions.

The children sit on bare floor with paper and pencil in their hands, learning and writing but the thought you are left with, is how they cope when it rains and in the blazing Abuja sun.

While some barely have clothes on, with mucus running down their noses and trace of tears on their faces, some with visible skin infection on their heads and body due to poor hygiene, they still recite their two- letter words and other basics with enthusiasm.

The centre, which is divided into four classes of nursery one to primary one, while the older class is under a barely completed zinc house. With less than five tables, learning and sweating in the scorching sun blend to make classes bitter and painful. The younger ones are seated outside under the tree.

This is the scenario at the Justice Development and Peace Commission Learning Centre, a school created by the Catholic Church at Yimitu in Waru District of the Abuja Municipal Area Council. The school is about 20 minutes drive from the popular Apo Market that harbours people from the Gbagyi lineage and now quarters of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who fled from Borno because of insurgency.

About 120 children of Borno parents have only but four teachers coaching them. What is observable about these teachers is the passion and drive they have in teaching in the children,
even though they lack the requisite qualification to teach.

Unfortunately, even though the children basically learn to read and write under the tree, they do not acquire much knowledge each day due to the limited education of their teachers, inadequate text books and notebooks as well as lack of
decent classrooms, chairs and desks.

Volunteer teachers
According to Ifeanyi Mbah, who is awaiting admission into the university and is in charge of the center, the children have no other opportunity to learn because their parents can hardly feed their families, let alone send them to school. Faced with the challenge of preparing the less privileged young minds for the future, Mbah and three young women from Borno State assemble at the centre everyday to teach the children.

He said what spurs him each morning to dress up and get to the mock school, is the desire to improve the status of the children.

Incidentally, he notices changes for the better every passing day with the children.

His words: “The improvement of these kids is what drives me. That is what makes me wake up in the morning and start coming to this place to teach them. It makes me happy. Many started teaching but left. I just want to help them so that one day, they will remember me for something.

“Their behaviour has changed in so many ways. Initially, most of them liked fighting, but today, they friendly. Before now, they could neither read nor write; but today, they can read and even speak, which is very encouraging. They are still learning but they are trying.”

He stated that even though he does not get paid, he was happy and would keep teaching the kids because his efforts have not been in vain.

“It is voluntary work. We are not paid for our services. It is just that our efforts are yielding good results. I love teaching young children, so I just try my best to teach them for the meantime and the three other teachers are just trying their
best to help their people. It was not easy,
because we have to start from the beginning, teaching ABCD, and today, most of them can write”, he said.

Making it good
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Mbah, who said they had achieved so much in their self-assigned job, with little and under a less conducive environment, lamented that apart from lack of chairs and the poor learning environment, most of the children are malnourished. He said the quest for knowledge has kept them going and they learn with excitement.

According to him, each time it rains, the children get dirtier because they sit on the floor under the tree to learn. He called for assistance from the government and public- spirited individuals because children are the future of Nigeria.

“We need chairs because as you can see, the children sit on the floor. Sometimes, when it rains, the place will be wet, their clothes get dirty and nowhere to sit. Some of them bring chairs from home to learn. It is a very big challenge. We need people to come and help us.

Improvised helping hand
Also, one of the teachers, Christiana Abraham, a mother from Borno State, said the job is all about helping the children, even though she does not have the professional qualification and has never been a teacher. Moved by the desire to give them basic knowledge, she resolved that since her children and others have no access to quality education at the IDP camp, the only way out is to keep trying to close the gap.

She said:
“I am here to help them because their parents do not have money to pay their school fees. The little things I know are what I teach them even though I never trained as a teacher. I was in school before and I know these basics. That is why I am transferring my knowledge. I am happy that I am teaching and they are learning.”

A pupil’s hunger for education
One of the pupils with so much enthusiasm to learn, Victoria Peter, treks from Waru to the learning centre every morning. The 12-year-old girl is in primary two, which is the highest class in the centre and she hopes to further her education if given the opportunity. She said the quest for good education is the only reason she walks the distance to the centre everyday.

“I have learnt a lot. I know English, Maths, social studies and quantitative. I come from Waru everyday. I trek to this place every morning and after school, I go back. I do that because I want to learn. Even if there is no money, I want to be a doctor and intend to further my studies, if given the opportunity”, said the young girl.