Coaching: When more is less

“My daughter has never had time to stay with me for the last two years. She is always at school, even during the holidays. When I ask why, I ‘m told she is being coached to pass the national examinations. Not only do miss her but also pay too much money,” complained Alvera, a parent whose daughter is in primary six. A number of schools and teachers have persistently approached parents about extra hours of learning for their children. This is what came to be popularly known as ‘coaching’. It is an exciting idea and no wonder it attracts a number of parents. But is it worth it? The initiative prompted cold reactions from some parents. However, because every parent wants his child to pass exams, it was given a benefit of doubt. The whole exercise of coaching if abused is futile two reasons: one, it corrupts teachers and two consequently hampers the learners’ performance. Teachers never stop yearning to have their salaries supplemented by extra income. Secondary and primary school teachers therefore, understandably use coaching as an extra source of income. One should be reminded that unlike many employees, teachers do not have any other means of getting extra income apart from their monthly salaries. In addition, teachers do not have enough time to go into other businesses especially during term time. It is wrong to think that teachers have a lot of free time during the holidays. You cannot do business during holidays and close it when schools start; business has to be consistent and not on and off. Therefore, even if teachers had capital to start private businesses, they would find it very cumbersome to operate it due to the heavy workload they shoulder. “I think I will have to go private one day. I tried to do private business when I was a teacher and it never worked because I had no time,” said a seemingly puzzled Audace Bimenyimana, an experienced university trained teacher who is now working with the Ministry of Local Government. The cash attached to coaching, corrupts a teacher to give his ‘normal’ teaching responsibilities less significance. If he/she has a usual class to conduct, it will never get enough attention visa avis the one under coaching. In some extreme cases, teachers have gone against professional ethics to fail learners who do not attend coaching lessons. Coaching interrupts students’ rest of mind and consequently fails their excellence.. Students cannot cope with an overloaded curriculum and long school terms. What do we mean by long school terms? Whenever students stay at school for two or three weeks more than others do, then a term is prolonged. This tires learners who stay at school against their will. “When I see others pack to go home for holidays, I feel like following them but because my parents and school obliges me to stay and study, I have no option. For sure at the bottom of my heart, I want to go home and rest”, said Angelique, a senior six student at APEPCO. If a secondary school student feels like the one above, how about a primary pupil. The poor young children are made to endure the burden of keeping in school all the year. mugitoni@yahoo.com