By Emmanuel F. Sanosi
Shortly after the Minister for Secondary Education, Louis Bapes Bapes, published the controversial text re-defining and modifying the Parent Teacher Association, PTA, Government Technical High School, GTHS Bamenda held its PTA annual meeting during which salient issues affecting the school and its students were discussed and a new action plan for the 2008/2009 Academic Year was drawn up.
The serene conduct of the deliberations would have put many other school PTAs, especially that of GBHS Downtown Bamenda, to shame. At GBHS Downtown Bamenda ear-splitting verbal fights almost degenerated to physical confrontation during a PTA meeting as the PTA executive could not satisfactorily explain the whereabouts of almost FCFA 15million.
Representing the Divisional Delegate for Secondary Education, the chief of service for co-curricular activities, Cornelius Nkafu, struggled to explain the spirit behind the new PTA ministerial text. Many of those present gleefully pointed out how misplaced the text was, considering that more than 70 percent of those present were teachers of the school, who the text excludes from the PTA, and not parents, as one would have expected. Admitting that he could not speak for the minister, Mr Nkafu nevertheless assured teachers that the text is not as bad as it looks. He attempted to assuage feelings by explaining that when the text comes into effect several adjustments will be made. He therefore advised parents on how to prepare their children for school, stressing the importance of giving good food instead of money to children in the morning before sending them to school.
He said with money the children are tempted to eat "junk food" along the streets and can suffer one of many food related health hazards. A child sitting in class, he added, with FCFA 1.000 in his pocket, will hardly concentrate, but will instead be dreaming of the most exciting way of spending the money during break, or to dodge classes and buy Internet time in a cyber shop and engage in nefarious activities, especially scam deals to swindle gullible foreigners, for example, who want to buy pet animals.
In essence, his intervention was a classic example of cogent advice to parents who are really concerned about the welfare of their children in school. In his welcome address, the principal, Joseph Tangye Ambe oncemore thanked the parents for living up to expectation. He attributed the impressive results of the school to the parents' commitment to providing the school's needs. During the last academic year the PTA, among other things, bought and installed 15 computers and four printers. He also thanked the parents for encouraging their children to pursue technical education. He alluded to the period before the 1990s when most people believed that technical schools were for children who could not cope with grammar courses because they were "dull." He said this belief was not only the result of poor orientation, but also wrong because technical courses, on the contrary, are more difficult and require very bright student.
While highlighting the school's past impressive records in public exams, he lamented the tendency of students waiving certain subjects like mathematics, English language, French, geography and civics, which they mistakenly think, are not necessary for technical studies. Technical students sneeringly refer to these as "corner" subjects. Mr Ambe exhorted parents to buy the prescribed textbooks for these subjects before other books. He encouraged students to develop an interest in these subjects because a pass in these subjects will ensure success in final exams. Many people who have attended a PTA meeting are usually stunned by the witch-hunting and malicious character of the deliberations.
It has become an unspoken tradition that many PTAs hold nowadays with only one important item on the agenda- the examination of the financial report with the intention of finding discrepancies with which to start a general fight with the finance team. On many instances such fights have brought meetings to premature conclusions. Although there were some financial issues that required further explanation, these did not darken the conduct of the deliberations at GTHS. Many independent observers were impressed with conduct of the meeting.
By Emmanuel F. Sanosi
Please i wish to know some information about school iterms of examination is corncen. Becuase one of my nephew is first year in the school.And he is asking me to send him a some of (Forty-two thousand france CFA 42000 frs )for teachnical GCE exams .That the registration is currently going now as well. SO i wish to know if it's true or not.
Please thanks so much for understanding as well .
Posted by: NCHE SIXTUS | December 08, 2009 at 08:39 AM