Today on the way back from Ganvié we stopped at the Peace Corps Bureau. We had heard that President Barack Obama had given a controversial speech about education, which was presented to all the students during the first week of school in the United States. We knew the internet connection would not be suitable to watch the speech on youtube, but found the transcript and printed it out for the ride back to Porto-Novo. It was an interesting moment. Ten of us in a van, listening as someone read the speech. In many ways the speech felt like such a far away concept from my experiences here, but the concepts of the speech were things we all could understand, because we are American.
Nine months ago I started substitute teaching in Anne Arundel County in Maryland. A month into doing day to day subbing I fell into a long-term substitute position at a high school. I could not be more grateful to have had that experience prior to joining the Peace Corps. I think the most important thing I realized from the time teaching in the states, is just how much I love teaching. One of the more invaluable tools I learned was telling with classroom management. But in many ways teaching in Benin is not the same as teaching in the United States. In fact, after hearing the speech given by Obama, we all decided they should do a classroom exchange between Benin and the United States, and show the students how things could work in the world.
In Benin there is primary school, which is free for everybody. After primary school, students continue to secondary school, or college, as it is often called here. Secondary school is not free. Students are normally about ten years old when they enter secondary school. Of course ages for grades are a fluid concept here. Because secondary school is not free, some students float in and out of school as they can afford it. Because secondary school is not free, many girls only receive primary schooling. The issue of girls’ education is really an issue onto itself.
In the classroom students do not have books—unless they buy the books, which is atypical. Since they don’t have books, their notes serve as their books—they take painstaking measures with all copying, and they cherish their copybooks. If you take a students copybook they are sure to follow it very closely. The only supplies given to teachers, aside from the curriculum books, are boxes of white chalk. Where I will be teaching in Matéri the student body is around 2,351 students—the same, possibly more than the number of students I went to school with during undergrad. In the two grades I will be teaching this year, sixieme, and cinqieme, there are about 900 some students. Both grades receive English class. There are five English professors, including myself. My class sizes will be close to 70—normal in Benin. I will be the only female teacher at my school—also normal in Benin.
The stark reality of education here is something I am just beginning to observe, note I don’t dare to say I completely understand it. And when Obama references in his speech, a part of me feels better that such a notion does not need to be preached to the majority of the children of Benin. The reason the children follow their copybook is because they know that is the proof of their education. The reason they copy so diligently is because they can’t go to any books to find the answer later. So when Obama talks of students using computers and a demand for books, I understand, but the odds against education here in Benin, make it feel foreign.
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