Something interesting happened last Friday while I was introducing a lesson on web development to some students of Upper sixth in a school somewhere in Douala Cameroon.
I arrived in that school and noticed the lab was of standard type and well equipped with over 35 working computers, internet connection and had only 28 students enrolled for the computer science lesson. This was shocking to me because it was the first time I saw a school with a standard computer lab in Cameroon but less students.
While I was writing the html codes on the Board for them to run on their computers since there’s no projector for me to test it myself, behold only 3 students were testing the code immediately while the rest were busy copying it in their hand books hoping to try it at home or some other day or worst still cram it against the upcoming exams. I even insisted they run the program at the moment for a better understanding, yet these students where bent on going the manual way(hand copying).
At the end of the class, I was very unsatisfied with what I had accomplished though it wasn’t my fault. That is when I noticed how much destruction our educational system has caused to our youths. Since not much time time is given for practicals, students have adapted to the habit of copying. Many of these « A » or « Major » grade students lingering around the quarter are just experts in copy and paste. In fact they hate creativity and that’s not good for the future of Cameroon.
Practical knowledge is meant to be done, tested and applied. Not copied and pasted on exam sheets. We need to get out of this school inertia. One French man told me some day that « Au Cameroon, nos jeûne soufre d’une maladie appelée la diplomit c.a.d une maladie causée par une abondance des diplômes qui ne servent à rien» translated as « Our youths in Cameroon are suffering from a sickness call diplomite I.e. a sickness caused by an abundance of useless certificates ».
That's absolutely true..
ReplyDeleteCameroonian really lack self creativity😩