By Gabriel Dike, Bianca-Iboma-Emefu, Blessing Ani and Laide Raheem (Abeokuta)

Nursery, primary and secondary schools nationwide are on long holiday. But rather than pupils taking some rest, they are attending various ‘coaching’ classes.

Stakeholders are divided on schools organising ‘holiday coaching’. In some other countries, summer school is purely to teach pupils skills such as computer, coding, website design and craft.

In Nigeria, only a few schools teach the pupils different skills from the normal academic work. Many take them through normal class teaching.

Mrs. Ronke Alaba enrolled her three children in their school’s summer coaching, because of the nature of her job. However, she was disappointed that the pupils were going through same academic exercise rather than being empowered with skills: “My children asked for money to buy exercise books and I wondered what they intended to use it for. I expected them to be taught craft, coding and other skills acquisition.”

Mr. Dennis Okpe said: “I didn’t send my kids to summer coaching. They are at home resting and playing. Some private schools are just milking parents with summer coaching. They end up doing the same academic exercise they have been exposed to during normal school.”

Proprietor of First Academy, Ikotun, Lagos, Mrs. Agnes Osaro, disagreed: “The pupils are taught different skills, including how to play musical instruments and public speaking.” However, she acknowledged that some schools deviated from the purpose of summer coaching: “Many parents are happy with schools running coaching classes during the long holiday. They even encourage us to run the summer coaching because it keeps their wards busy while they are at work.”

Mrs. Oyabanji Adenike, proprietress, Divine Knowledge School, Obada, Abeokuta, Ogun State, said: “Summer school is a special arrangement to keep pupils abreast of their academic works, even when on vacation. It is also used to introduce and intimate students with the academic works of the next class ahead of resumption.

“It is not organised to make money. Pupils have a lot to learn in summer school. Our students are given the opportunity to learn and play music instruments.”

For Mrs. Ademuyia Adeola: “Summer coaching is a good idea to keep children occupied. It is better to keep the children busy with academic activities. The duration of the vacation is too small for the children to learn, rather, they should attend summer classes.”

Abiodun Adeoye, a site engineer, said that he allows his children to attend summer school because he and his wife have busy schedules. He added he would have loved to keep his children at home during the holiday, but for the exigencies of his job.

Mrs. Mariam Adeogun, a matron at a State Hospital, said her children have been made to stay at home to enjoy their vacation, rather than sending them to summer school: “Private schools deliberately introduce summer school to extort money from parents who want the best for their children.”

A businesswoman, Mrs. Joke Oladejo, said summer classes are popular throughout the world and take different forms, providing a multitude of possibilities for parents and children.

She stated that the long break would have been a vocation period for kids: “But the reverse is the case because of the economic impact where multiple income is needed to meet family demands.

“I had that issue with my last son. When a new term began, he would aske me how to write letter 12 and I just screamed. This was a boy that was good at numeracy.

“Summer coaching is not exploitative. It is doing parents lots of favours. As kids attend it, it will reduce the time of shouting by parents at home.

“When kids don’t go anywhere, it becomes important to check their excesses. That is where summer school comes in. They don’t even spend long hours like in a normal school setting.

Mr. Francis Ezekude said: “Children are stressed after long school activities. After a tedious academic calendar, they need a break from academic work.

“The period of academic work should be designed to suit our culture. The British stopped summer classes because they recognised that children need to develop in all aspects. They should have the opportunity to play.

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“If they are to have any form of education, it should be extracurricular. Parents should take their kids to vocational centre where they can acquire different knowledge, experience and skills.”

Dr. Inyang Anietoabasi father of two kids, said: “My kids are three and five years old. They don’t to go to summer classes because they just concluded an academic year. They need to have time to play.

“It doesn’t affect my child’s performance because we have a supervisor for them. We plan their calendar; they have to play. But if I feel the need, it would be learning a trade.

“Schools should be more creative. They should exclude academic activities but extracurricular activities. This will balance the learning experience. They can learn skills like coding and other relevant vocations or skills that can broaden their learning process.”

A school proprietor, Mrs. Monisola Aiyekuseyin, said: “Summer classes should be more innovative, where schools can come up with an academic and skill idea, designed for the children to benefit.”

Uthman Animasheun, Faculty of Education, Lagos State University (LASU), agreed: “Summer school is a necessity. Kids cannot be left at home for a long period it would affect their performances. The challenge that I think the programme has is how it is designed. 

“The domain of learning should be exploited. The three domains of learning are cognitive, affective and psychomotor. The variety of methods in professional development events is to engage the different learning domains.  The schools should device means of engaging professionals that can build the children’s skills.”

Another LASU lecturer, Amin Oseni, said: “Summer school is necessary and very relevant. The workload of the children is less compared to when they are in school.

“Summer school needs to be designed for kids to have fun. It should not be limited to classes. The school should entail four weeks of fun and engaging activities, such as workshops for the children.

“Arts, crafts, literacy and science are also strong features including music that will develop the children. As an educationist, I will recommend that the summer school is designed to impact on the children.”

Mr. David Bamigboye: “It is important to send children to school, but they are not going for any summer coaching. I want my kids to learn skills aside the normal subjects being taught in schools. Summer school prepares children better for the future. It is not exploitative.”

Mrs. Ajibola revealed: “I send my kids to school coaching for them to meet up with their academic performance when school resumes. Adding vocational training to their academics will go a long way in helping them.

“So, I allow them to have both instead of sending them to learn only skills. My reason for sending them to summer coaching is not because I am busy but because I do not want them to miss out on their academics.”

Mrs. Florence Folarin, said: “I don’t think it is necessary for children to attend summer coaching. The children need time to rest. I think the long holiday is a period for the children to rest, learn skills, travel, grow spiritually and everything should not be about book every time.

“I don’t believe the schools are conducting summer coaching to extort money from parents. If you want your child to be educated you must be ready to meet the demands.”

***Mrs. Bello Alhaja, a school principal, said: “Summer coaching is not necessary, but because many kids are not serious during the holiday. Many parents do not have time for their children. They just push them to attend summer coaching. It keeps the children busy while they are away to work. “It should not be compulsory but optional.

“We have vocational trainings like gele tying, decoration and computer based skills. We have introduced vocational training and last year we introduced catering.”

***A school Vice Principal, Mr. Akinboyewa Akintunde-John said: “Summer school is necessary because it helps students to prepare for the next session and the future.

“We introduced vocational training into the summer coaching and even some of the skills into our academic curriculum to empower our students, help to build their self-esteem, and to sell our school.”