Because this was once a British colony, they call chalkboard erasers 'dusters' and because this is Lesotho, mine is a piece of sheep hide. I have just completed my third week as a high school teacher in Lesotho.
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| Sekonyela High School |
My school consists of a smattering of buildings clustered on a hill above the Senqu River, at the base of the mountain, Thaba Popa. The horizon in every direction is formed by the jagged peaks of Lesotho's Maloti mountain range. Every morning the students gather for outside assembly in a sort of courtyard, where they sing hymns and the national anthem and say the Lord's Prayer. After hearing the day's announcements, the students all go to their classes. Each grade has their own room, which they stay in all day while the teachers move from room to room. There are 6 classrooms in 2 buildings, but there are 7 classes of kids. So right now one class is in the assembly hall. There will also be one more class in a week or so, but I'm not sure where they are going to fit. The classes range in size from 30 to around 60 students.
When the teacher enters the room, all of the 'learners' usually stand and say, “good morning sir.” This is a little off-putting at first, but one gets used to being addressed as 'sir' pretty quickly! During class, the students are usually quite well behaved. No one has yet to talk back or be rude in any way. The most disobedience I get are kids who don't pay attention or don't take notes. This deference and subdued behavior are likely due to the use of corporal punishment at school. The tradition of caning students persists here, though it is regulated by the government. They have rules set out for the size and weight of sticks used as well as how and why a student may be hit. As stated, this makes for polite and well-behaved students, but it also causes them to be very cautious in class and often reluctant to answer questions. Personally, it is also very difficult to stand by as the kids are beaten.
The students must purchase their own books and materials. After school fees, uniform fees, and buying notebooks and pencils, many students do not have money left for books. Because of this, teachers must write everything on the board; all notes, assignments, everything the student needs to read. This makes teaching math and physics a little cumbersome, as one can't assign book problems or reading, but it must be a nightmare in English and Sesotho literature classes.
We do have a science laboratory, stocked with a scant assortment of physics and chemistry equipment. Science demos are very difficult to acquire here. There is one such company in the country, located in the capital city. One must travel there to purchase what items they happen to have in stock. I have a few physics demos I would like to do over the year and will probably have to take a few trips to the local hardware stores to build them from scratch.
I am lucky enough to be at a relatively new school, built in 2005. I also have one of the few staff rooms witch not only electricity, but a few computers to boot! These old PC's have loads of viruses among other problems, but at least they give me a little project here and there. Other than teaching and lesson planning, the bulk of teachers' time is spent in the staff room gossiping or watching movies, which isn't a bad existence at all.
So far I like my job here a lot. The kids seem to like me and are quite nice to teach to. By this point they are also becoming less nervous and will stop me to ask questions if they don't understand something. I also like my little village up here in the mountains. It's peaceful and quiet and gives a person time and space to think. There is also the camp town near enough, so I an always stop in for a little bit of excitement and a cold beer. Oh, and that sheep-skin chalkboard eraser I mentioned earlier, it works way better than any eraser I've used in my life! Hopefully things stay this good through the cold, long winter here!
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| Part of my walk home from school |
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