School Assembly

every morning at the primary school, the learners line up in rows: grade r -kindergarten- girls in front, then grade r -kindergarten- boys, grade 1 girls, grade 1 boys, all the way to grade 7 boys. the educators stand in front on the porch of the foundation phase classroom block facing the learners. a learner starts a song, usually 1 of 3 that are sung often and the rest of the learners join in. then a second song starts the same way. with no music or even a starting pitch, im amazed at how well they do most of the time and how well they can stick together with no one conducting. then the educator in charge of that week will say something, read from the bible, or just move on. the learners say a prayer then greet the educators who greet back. if any educator has an announcement, they can step forward and say their bit. then the learners are excused and file to class to start their day. now in theory, i think this is a good idea. in practice, it is one of my most dreaded 5-10 minutes of the day. there are many reasons for that. i very rarely know what is being said and i am often pressured to take a turn and lead this. another thing that drives me nuts is the educator in charge expects the learners to know what to do, but rarely gives guidance on it just dishes out punishment. the principal usually stands out in front giving a threatening looks sometimes with a stick in hand as a threat of corporal punishment, which is still all too frequently practiced in the rural areas. peace corps trained us on the topic when we arrived in country. we were exposed early and warned we would be dealing with it, but that does not make it any easier. the teachers also act as if they dont want to be there which makes it all the more unpleasant. when the learners do the call and response greeting, all the teachers are to respond, but i can tell you that more than half the time, none of the male teachers participate and most of the time maybe 3 of the 9 teachers respond and that response is mumbled. it just makes me wonder why they do the assembly every morning and if they are going to do it why not do it well? or at least only do the parts the educators are willing to do. it just makes me so sad. but some things here, big and small, i have just accepted that i will never understand.