Profits and standards and St Peter’s Mission

Time was when we had what was known as “experimental” schools. They were ran like private schools and were attended by children who were born by grace. They were regarded as special children.

It meant that some children were born by mistake and were, therefore, supposed to graduate from Zongo Primary or at best from the infamous public schools.

Experimental school kids were treated like children of God because invariably their parents were rich or pretended to be rich. Anyhow, they did not belong to the holy club of church mice.

When those kids spoke English, they did so in style and their phonetics was quite akin to that of Chris Tackie. We of the other ranks spoke differently, unmindful of grammar, punctuation and usage.

And when we happened to meet the divine kids on playgrounds, they mostly chose to play with those of similar feather. When we asked them questions in vernacular, they replied in the Queen’s language and reminded us that it was academic treason to speak vernacular. We bowed in veneration and saluted their intellectual wisdom.

As for the girls, you just couldn’t approach them. The way they would look at you from head to toe before finally snubbing you was enough to make you dodge or just run away whenever you saw them.

I had the misfortune of telling one I admired her pony-tail hair-do, and the way she looked at me compelled me to withdraw the statement instantly. Then added that it was a slip of tongue so I deserved forgiveness.

But coming to think of it, when it came to real knowledge I don’t think they were any better. They were better equipped with books, pianos and learning aids and were on the average better-placed to excel academically. But pound-for-pound some of us from the public schools were far more intelligent.

In effect, the only difference really was that while they ate oats, milk, bread and cheese for breakfast, some of us made do with bongo coffee and tea-bread or better still waakye garri a.k.a. zorzor. But in those days, public school teachers were diligent and really taught us well. These days, I don’t know what the hell is happening.

I had a brilliant Indian friend who attended an experimental school and whenever I paid him a visit, his Pop didn’t like it very much because I attended a public school. We were both in primary five but I was teaching him a few maths points he did not know although he was considered brilliant. I also taught him how to make a kite and of course how to begin a love letter.

One day his pregnant mother whom I had never seen because she was always indoors came out with an extraordinarily large belly. She kept staring at me and I smiled at her belly. I actually wanted to ask my friend what really was wrong with his mum’s belly. I had never seen one that large.

“Is Vijay your friend?” she asked me.

“Yes Mum,” I answered timidly.

“You attend Experimental?”

“No, Anglican.”

“If you are good boy, Vijay will teach you some Maths and English.”

“Yes, Mama,” I said, just short of telling her that it was the other way round and that I was tutoring Vijay on some knotty points in maths. In fact, I would add that I was even coaching Vijay on how to write love letters.

Today, those who attend the public schools have less chance of getting to the universities because they either do not learn, are not taught well because the teachers are not good, or are not encouraged to study. So, many people who can afford it want their kids to attend private schools which are today so many that no one notices them anyway.

Some of the private schools are very good though; unlike some schools in the countryside where teachers who are given awards further distinguish themselves by impregnating school girls. Double award.

Now, when there was this changeover to the present JSS system, many wondered what would be some of the private schools since government would not be equipping them to run their JSS programmes. Those proprietors who were serious took steps to equip their schools, and there was no hitch in getting their JSS shoot off.

Taking a cursory look around, one would realise, however, that many schools, government or private, are poorly equipped. With the government schools, there is the hope that they would be equipped in due course, but one cannot be sure with the private ones since some proprietors are only interested in profit and not quality tuition.

I am glad, however, to note that some private proprietors are seriously undertaking some exercises to ensure that their schools are of standard. They want profit, yes, but at the same time they want a name for their schools.

When I visited Saint Peters Missions, Nursery, Primary and JSS, I was impressed with the steps the school’s board and management are taking to improve standards. A department is being put up solely for manipulative skills.

The JSS system is meant to ensure that students cultivate manipulative skills, but resources in many schools are lacking and this has not been possible in many cases. St Peters is about a step ahead many schools.

Under the manipulative skills department is a sub-department in the pipeline known as the ‘Clothing and Textiles Department’, where basic skills in cloth fabrication and design can be learnt so that if the child does not get a chance to proceed to SSS, he or she could be absorbed in textile manufacturing and designing to improve upon skills for eventual employment or self-employment.

The school is also establishing a department similar to a multi-purpose computer centre where kids can be introduced to the computer and get acquainted with at least Word Perfect before they graduate. What about the language centre where the kids can undertake proficiency courses in English, French and the local languages? The school’s budget covers it adequately.

In an interview with the proprietor, Mr Moses Adu-Gyamfi, I learnt what the management has undergone to go this far to make the school a paragon of the ideal private JSS academy.

“For the time being,” he said, “we are forgetting all about profit. We are investing into equipping our departments adequately so that every child who passes through St Peters would have gone through that type of academic discipline that would make him fit into any school of higher learning or any suitable vocation. This is our aim.

“Secondly, we want St Peters to be the torch-bearer of the private schools. Presently we are not doing badly. But we want to be the crusaders of the ideal thing, to be forerunners of the restoration of standard and education within the educational system.

“Well, I think very few people think like this these days. Profit margins are of more concern than the provision of infrastructure and equipment to build their schools into serious institutions of learning.

“Some proprietors run their schools to get money to chase women and tiny girls, and so do not have any plans whatsoever for improving the conditions of their schools. Buildings crack and deteriorate, chairs are inadequate, equipment are lacking and yet they charge exorbitant fees.

“Such private schools better gear up to the task of doing the right thing or quit.”

This article was first published on Saturday June 1, 1996