Immediately after completing the first-semester examination, as usual, the students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta are expected to resume class. It has been captured in the school calendar often that almost no holiday exists for the students. It has even become a cliché among the students thus: No getaway for us!
Consequently, the school usually appears deserted once the students finish their exams. It is like a season to slip away from the grip of the strenuous and time-consuming academic life. It is not surprising at times when one sees some students with their well-packed bags on their final paper: as soon as they ‘drop pen’, they join the next shuttle to where they will board to their respective homes or states.
Many times this runaway period has adverse effects on the school calendar as well as the students’ academics. But no one feels concerned about it. Beyond the fact that ‘choking’ the students with resumption post-exam is something that should be looked into, the students should as well understand that there is no time to waste since the academic calendar of the polytechnic has experienced an imbalance in time past.
It has been observed that students go on at least two weeks of self-determined holiday after their exams. That is the least.
No one can dispute that all work and no holiday makes a student a dullard – learning should be taxed times to give time to free one’s mind, do away from rush-hour in attending lectures, overnight reading or writing of assignments, etc. – just as all work, no play makes Jack a dull schoolboy.
It has been observed that for about two weeks after school resumes, classes are empty and lectures would not hold. This keeps the lecturers idle, eagerly waiting for their time to come to relish how frantic their students would be when they (the students) finally resume. (It is from my experience as a student.)
Nevertheless, we cannot pat the wrongdoers on their backs and expect that they change. It is reproachable for students to stay away from school for a long time in the spirit of having a holiday.
The reason is simple: the school calendar is already fixed and altercation comes with a price: either the school activities are fast-tracked or some leisure exercises are expunged! You cannot afford to be at a disadvantage that can be avoided.
The school should make its calendar more flexible to allow time for holidays because the post-exam period comes with an odd and general brokenness for students. The holiday will allow students to go home and get some foodstuff to survive in school. It is also the period most students have the time and chance to visit their parents after a long time of being away.
