06/04/2021
THE POWER OF THE SCHOOL TIMETABLE IS INSUFFICIENT!
By Olufemi Folaponmile
3-minute read
At best, a typical school day has about 5 - 6 hours for teaching and learning. Imagine plugging in 4 or more subjects on the school timetable within this limited time per day. Imagine how challenging it could be for teachers trying to get students to learn while also struggling to cover the entire curriculum for each year! Apportioning teaching slots on the school timetable for each of the 18 subjects offered in Junior Secondary School, and 8 or 9 subjects offered in Senior Secondary School each week has never been more daunting. The situation in the primary school is not too different. Suffice it to say, teachers and students rarely have enough time to do justice to any subject within the allocated meager time on the timetable per week. The school timetable is merely a statutory guiding document which teachers and students must be willing to outdo if they truly wish to achieve any meaningful progress. There will always be the need for some extra time. Such extra times are either initiated by the school, teacher or even students themselves. The victories in the game of teaching and learning are always won as teachers and students go into extra times. Extra times come with a lot of sacrifice, no doubt. But the returns are always worth it.
Therefore, I urge all educators to outdo their school timetables by creating extra times for more reviews, teaching, practice, discussions etc. The truth of the matter is that the power of the school timetable is never enough!
Olufemi Folaponmile is a teacher and learning expert.
