Dear Sir,
It is with utmost pleasure and gratitude that I am writing this letter to congratulate you on your achievements as commissioner of education Bauchi State, Hon. Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde. I since have this confidence that the state educational sector will be great under your leadership.
Sir, I knew it will be shocking to bring to your notice that a great number of our government schools are not offering literature as one of the subjects in their curriculum.
Not only that, in most of our schools, science students are given more special prominence and honour over arts students. For example, no head boy or head girl post for arts students no matter his/her capability. To them those offices are for ‘God’s own’ children, the scientists. This in turn has shattered the dreams of our helpless arts students.
In addition, although I was among those opportune to obtain their secondary school certificate under Bauchi State Special Schools, but I am also a victim of lack of good background in literature. I joined Government College Toro in the year 2008 and till my departure on 2015 as an art student I have never come across a trained literature teacher – right from my junior secondary section to senior section. The teachers allocated to take us were English language teachers claiming they could teach literature. As result we are not given the required background knowledge as they keep dangling around looking for what to put through.
At first, I thought that was only practiced in my school until after my graduation when I met some students from our helpless government day secondary schools who were busy dreaming of studying several arts courses such as law and its likes, but have never learnt the subject called literature not to talk of knowing it as part of their requirement to join higher institutions.
Consequently, as for people like me, my lack of literature background as an art student whose dream was to study law and fortunately studied BA English Language it has made my battle in the field very tough. Perhaps I wasn’t able to get the good result expected of me as a product of your unlimited efforts in Government College Toro and until my graduation as a BA English Language degree holder the vacuum has its giant effect on me.
Moreover, proof of this can be seen in a school like mine were science students will be celebrating their 9 credits in both their senior secondary school certificate examinations (WAEC and NECO) results, while an art student will be battling to have the required 5 credits for him/her to further his/her studies.
This is a product of Bauchi State Special Schools stating these. How do you see or what will you expect from others if they ever have the voice to say their minds out?
Finally, as science cannot be offered without the teaching of physics, chemistry and biology, likewise arts cannot be offered without the teaching of literature.
So on this note I call on the Ministry of Education to standardise the teaching of literature and other arts subjects in our secondary schools and also emulate neighbouring states, such as Gombe and Kano, where private schools teach it right from primary level. This will build our pupils into great minds, with sound and emphatic morals with high capacity for problem solving among other variables. See Adamu Usman Garko from Gombe State, a teenage author still in secondary school.
Give proper consideration for our art students please.
Umar Sani Yakubu is a graduate of Bauchi State University, Gadau [email protected]
