Taking the F word out of schools | Michael Kaiyatsa

Sunday, 20 December 2009

Source: Blantyre Newspaper Limited (Malawi)

Admittedly, it takes great courage and a thick skin for girls with children to return to school long after dropping out.

More often than not, the abuse from classmates and, sometimes, teachers is enough to put them off.

But in Karonga and Chitipa, young mothers are increasingly taking this journey of courage, thanks to Plan Malawi’s ‘Learn Without Fear’ campaign.

Plan Malawi has partnered with the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), which has a strong presence in the two districts, to take the fear factor out of primary schools.

One visible result of this partnership is young mothers returning to school long after dropping out.

To appreciate the impact of this project, I traveled to Karonga recently, where I met Ellen Nyirenda, a pupil and mother.

Ellen, now aged 16, dropped out in Standard 8 after her friends convinced her to quit school and get married.

However, her husband later deserted her, leaving her heavily pregnant and destitute.

Today, Ellen is a happy student and describes ‘Learn Without Fear’ as her “saviour”.

In the headline, “F” is for fear — fear defined as an emotional response to a perceived threat. In this case, fear of abuse harboured by pupils in schools.

It is this fear that the Plan Malawi/CHRR partnership is working hard to stamp out.

John Holt, a famous educator, said “when we make a child afraid, we stop learning dead in its tracks.”

Some of us who have come out of fear-ridden learning environments, where teasing and bullying were the order of the day, can bear witness to this.

I remember in our primacy school days, back in the 1980s, there was an older girl named Dorothy who had just returned to school after giving birth.

In class, whenever she wasn’t looking, the little boys used to amuse themselves by sticking messages to her back that made fun of her motherhood and sagging breasts.

Sometimes, even the teachers — the people who were supposed to protect her — used to have a field day making fun of her.

I remember there was this female teacher who was particularly boorish.

Every time Dorothy failed a question, this teacher would look at her scornfully and say something that would drive her to tears.

She would scowl at her: “Why don’t you just stay at home and feed your little tot instead of coming to school and embarrassing yourself like this, failing to answer even a simple question?”

This verbal abuse went on for a long time until one day Dorothy couldn’t take it any longer. She stormed out of the classroom — and that was the last time I saw her.

Where is Dorothy now? Sometimes I ask myself.

Did she go to another school? Or did she succumb to her teacher’s self-fulfiling prophesy and end up staying at home?

Holt is dead right. When we make a child afraid, we stop learning dead in its tracks.

Meeting Ellen, mother of two-year-old Tabiya, at Kasantha Primary School in Karonga brought back memories of Dorothy.

Dorothy was a victim of school violence, which includes verbal and emotional abuse.

I am sure had there been ‘Learn Without Fear’ back then, Dorothy would have stayed in school.

Sadly, there wasn’t and Dorothy was forced out.

In her case, it is fear of being embarrassed or mortified or being made to look stupid that drove her out of school.

The “F” in the headline also includes fear of an individual such as a teacher or classmates.

Back to our primary school days, I remember how older boys, too, were taunted just for being older than the rest.

There was a song we used to sing about the “class leader having beard as if he has borrowed it.”

Every time we sang this song, we would cheerfully stroke our beardless chins, singing on top of our voices, while dancing and looking tellingly at the older boys.

Embarrassed, the older boys would either bury their faces between their knees or in their hands or they would simply walk out.

Age, back then, in primary schools, was ridiculed not respected.

And if you were a girl who also happened to be a mother, you needed to have a thick skin to stay in class, which is not the case nowadays.

Ellen tells me that she gets on very well with her friends and teachers, thanks to ‘Learn Without Fear’.

“I am encouraging all girls who dropped out of school to come back to school,” she says, adding: “There is no need to be afraid because ‘Learn Without Fear’ has created a safe learning environment for us.”

Ellen’s mother is grateful to Plan Malawi and CHRR for Learn without fear.

She says: “My daughter is enjoying learning and I know if this support you are giving her continues, she will complete her education.”

Headmaster of Kasantha Primary School, where Ellen is a pupil, Austin Simwera, says the project is bearing fruits at the school, although there are a few challenges.

“Teachers have realised that children have rights unlike before when they could beat up pupils and defile girls,” he says.

Simwera, however, bemoans a lack of awareness among children of their responsibilities.

“Some pupils are deliberately misbehaving in class knowing that the teacher will not punish them,” he says.

Simwera further laments that some parents in the communities have not understood the project.

“Some parents are coming to us with instructions that we should be beating up their children,” he says.

However, ‘Learn Without Fear’ discourages corporal punishment, prescribing instead discipline.

There is a difference between punishment and discipline, says a statement on the campaign’s website.

“Punishment usually grows out of anger and has the goal of releasing that anger by hurting another physically or psychologically … Discipline, on the other hand, is training that corrects, moulds or perfects the mental faculties or moral character…”

The statement further reads: “Another definition of discipline is guidance. It requires thought, planning and patience. It also requires the adult to respect the child and build up a relationship with him.”

Like most countries, Malawi has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to protect children from all forms of violence.

Under this UN Convention, government has the obligation to ensure that children’s right to be taught in a safe environment is respected and promoted.

However, realising that government alone cannot accomplish this task CHRR is coming in to complement government’s efforts.

CHRR district coordinator for Karonga, Gracian Mbewe, says CHRR is doing this through a range of interventions that includes community mobilisation on the rights of the child, training for teachers, formation of child rights clubs, and engagement with parents.

The target areas for these interventions are T/As Kilupula and Mwelengombe in Karonga and Kameme and Nthalire in Chitipa.