An Education

Ghanaian schools are interesting. I am not sure if I will call them schools at all anymore. Perhaps I should call them "Institutions of Passive Socialization". The students are taught to recite correct answers and not to actually THINK.
The teacher says, "Two plus two is four. Class what is two plus two."
"Four!" they shout.
"Good...Moving on." With that, every student is supposed to really UNDERSTAND how to add.
They learn to read by memorization and not phonetically which means a lot of them cannot read. I had a professor name Ronald Butchart, who was a simply brilliant man, who said that almost all teaching methods work. If you beat people who don't know how to read, people will learn to read. If you reward people who know how to read, people will learn to read. If you spend time teaching someone sounds, people will know how to read. But the question is, can they really read? Well, the students in Ghana cannot. Most of the students do not even speak loud enough to hear whether they are answering a question right or wrong. The fear of being wrong is so great that students are afraid, and shy, when answering questions. Whatever confidence they had, or could have had, has surely been beaten out of them. Caning happens everyday. All the time. It creates a big problem. Students can't be wrong. You can not learn if you can not be wrong...at least sometimes..
I can't even poll the class for understanding. I can teach a lesson on government and then try to check for understanding.
If I ask, "Do you understand why countries have governments?"
The class answers in unison, "Yes Madame."
I will then ask, "Does anyone have any questions?"
United they answer, "Noooo Madame."
"Good! Then can someone raise their hand and explain the purpose of government"
No hands.
"Class, you all said you understood. That means 100% of you should be able to explain why countries have governments."
Nothing.
Eventually an unsure student will slowly raise their hand to appease me and to take the pressure of the rest of the class.
"Madame, I believe people have governments to keep peace in a country." Even with a correct answer she is so doubtful and fearful in answering.
"Exactly!" I exclaim, "Now who can tell me how citizens participate in governance in a democracy?"
...Again, I will restart the long and grueling process of forcing students to answer a question.
It is hard for me to understand what they are so afraid of, considering that I don't even have the cane in my hand, much less in the room...but then again I totally understand.

Today one of our group members broke down in tears in the middle of the school day. She was so discouraged because she felt that the students were not really learning and she really wanted to help them but she felt helpless. The teachers are children themselves. Many of them are 18 and 19 and often they teach the students incorrect information. Watching a non-French speaker teach French is painful. Her pronunciation is laughable to embarrassing; but, when 40 children repeat that broken French after the teacher, it is downright disheartening. A new generation of non-French speakers emerges with each lesson.

There is no regard for the URGENCY of education. Today lunch lasted about 2 hours because the teachers were hanging out in the teachers lounge while the students ran outside. No one rang the bell to restart classes. The teachers are like a bunch of high school kids chilling at work. Its like when you go to Subway to get a sandwich and no one greats you. You look through the window of the back door and there is the entire staff, clowning around. Finally, one of them makes the sacrifice to come out and give you half assed service so they can get back to hanging out with their friends. The fact that they had to help you is somehow irritating to them, as if you are disturbing the urgent thing they are doing in the back. That is education in Ghana. The teachers are not coming out to help these kids. When they finally do, they throw them a little bone of knowledge and then dismiss them to recess. This happens on a daily basis. It is more like a summer camp than a school. When the discouraged group member finished her cry she laughed and said, "I wonder if there are schools like this in America?" I quickly responded, "Yes there are a lot of them. Sadly, the students who attend those schools look just like the students in this school in Africa." I wonder if she has ever cried for them...