Norms are practice whose genesis can be traced to a singularity. It then grows into plurality before it blossoms into a community thing. In all, their passively embraced ubiquity and most times, unchallenged existence make them more intriguing for a curious mind.
It has been ten weeks of resumption in Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, although it can be said to be four weeks giving a look-in to the strike we got “arm-twisted” into whose duration chalked up four weeks. In all, the bottom line is that the 2020/2021 academic session has been on, arguably four weeks gone, and yet the statisitics are as uninspiring as leaves in winter.
Realistically, the school has admitted three batches of ND part-time students, HND students, and the first batch of ND full-time students. Go wild with the estimated numbers of these freshmen in your mind, add it to the pre-existing HND2 students, and non-science ND2 students who are not on the compulsory Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES), you would be left with a sizeable number of students in your head.
Now with this imagined number of students on the strength of the realistic data provided, one would expect that at least in the second week of resumption after the strike, classes would be half-filled, campus would not be in tens, twenties, shuttles would have a near-field day in office, lecturers would be present in their numbers. With this modest expectation, if you had taken an analytical walk round the school last week, you would have been met with utter disappointment.
In corroboration, investigations made revealed that the recently outgone students of ND2 and HND2 who are yet to complete their respective final year academic projects are almost outnumbering the supposed extant students in the school. The question then is: where are these students?
Tracing the history of the resuming-not-early norm, you would be forced to go back to the home where most Nigerian parents are culpable of having instilled and fanned the embers of such practice. Right from primary school, children are always being told by their parents that the first day of resumption in school won’t contain significant academic work, hence they get instructed to stay at home. The children, subconsciously start growing up with this mentality, such that even before their parents mention it at the brink of resumption, they already have it in mind that they would resume school in the second week or the third week.
This spirals up to secondary schools where also an appalling number of students is being recorded during the first two weeks of resumption, with the school only coming to life in the third week.
Unfortunately, this has also crept into tertiary institutions, indicative in the undisturbed existence of such mentality in some adults we have in the institution.
Bringing in a competitive analogy of the workplace, you would find out that such practice is far-fetched therein. No matter the length of the break taken, if resumption to office is slated for Monday, Nigerians would not miss it for anything in the world. They would be right in time to resume work the slated day. But place these same people in the academic environment, then the resuming-not-early norm takes over them.
As adults, and teenagers nearing adult stage, there are some demands in knowledge such period places on one. Let’s, for this moment, spare our parents the hammer of having promoted this – if they had failed in their own time, it is not enough justification for us to follow suit. We all grew up with some myths, norms and beliefs passed down to us, but with education and civilization, we are armed with the tools to question every myth, redefine norms and reform beliefs to the end of our productivity as humans.
An academic session is always hinged on an academic calendar with activities germane to an effective semester spelt out. Every week is allocated for to cater for the objective of the semester. In other words, no particular activity is bereft of essence in relation to the overall maximization of the semester. So deciding to brush off two, three to five weeks from a session has its effects on the maximization of the semester. Lagging would most times occur with activities that should have been done pushed up to subsequent time, thereby having crammed and hurried activities in the ideal stead of smooth and adequate activities.
Lecturers, students and parents are all to be blamed in this quagmire. With each and every one of the said category of stakeholders exhibiting the resuming-not-early norm in varying degrees. Like the popular nursery rhyme connoting how early does make things better, so would it be resounded that it is time we looked into this norm of resuming late, and consequently, rushing things as curtains draw nearer. It would save us from a lot of drawbacks, scaling up our respective productivities.
Productivities for the ND1s in getting their registration done early, and settling into their new academic environment quickly. For the non-science ND2s in ensuring that all what is supposed to be covered for the semester is covered as and when due. For the HND1s in getting their registration too settled as early as possible, giving them ample time to focus on academic work. And for the HND2s in ensuring that none of their last academic days in school goes fruitless. At this point in time, for them, every lecture, every course should be taken with multiplied priority in a bid to not only end but end solidly.
The lecturers also have their own fair share. Meanwhile, it is understandable that due to the backlog of salaries owed them, some have grown lackadaisical towards academic activities. Remuneration goes a long way to motivate the psyche of workers, lecturers inclusive. However, this is an appeal to all lecturers to persist in their selfless, recognized and appreciated efforts of seeing to standard academic activities while the right stakeholders in the school are out there to ensure that their pays are paid.
