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I attended two public elementary schools in Jos South. Most elementary schools are mixed, with boys and girls learning next to each other. But when I was about to finish elementary, I started learning that some schools are exclusively unisex. There are examples of such schools in Plateau State. There is the Boys High School Gindiri, Science School Kuru, College of Mary Immaculate Zawan, St. Joseph College Vom and hosts of others.
Many people assume that Government
Technical College Bukuru is a unisex school. It is not. The fact that it is a
technical college makes it repellent to girls, but there have always been a
handful of girls. The current Principal of the school, Mercy Patu Wambutda, is
female, the first woman to hold that position. She is an alumnus of the school
and was also the first Head Girl of the school.
Government Technical College Bukuru is a
school that admits students who have already finished the foundation level of
secondary in other schools. It used to be the first two years of secondary, but
with the 6-3-3-4 system, you have to finish the first three years of secondary
to meet the criterion to attend the school, also referred to as Butechs.
Inter-school sports competitions or
Man-o-War jamborees often brought schools together. It was where I
learned the character of Butechs as a school that breeds hard nuts. They would
splurge to get attention. For instance, they could go to the extent of eating
bread with the polythene plastic covering or pushing three balls of chin chin burns at the same them, making their eyes bulge as
if wanting to pop out of their sockets –they just loved creating a scene.
The hard-nut character of Butechs’ students
did work on our psychologies, making us believe that the school is
a-most-attend. So, I wrote the entrance exams to get to Butechs, but I wasn't admitted due to my weak mathematics foundation at the
time –it became a silver lining.
Science School Kuru is one of the most iconic schools Plateau State has ever known. It became very glaring to me when I was a student at the University of Jos –the school would boast of scores of students at the university when other schools had but a handful.
The entry criterion of Science School Kuru is similar to that of Butechs
–you must complete basic education. So, while in class two of my
secondary, I reluctantly wrote the entrance examination, reluctant because I
never liked an exclusive boys' school –it seemed like a prison to me. So, when
the results came out, I pretended I hadn’t heard about it. People who
saw my name on the shortlist still came to inform me, but I jettisoned the
idea of going. When I gave my reasons for refusing to go to Science School Kuru
to an old student, he confirmed to me that it was true that they often had to
violate the rules by jumping over the fence just to see girls in the
host community.
What is the aim of schools and education?
To sum it up, schools are intended to fade the darkness in our minds and provide
a good life, position, power and sometimes wealth. Science School Kuru stands
along the way to Abuja, the work base of many educated and successful
Nigerians. On their way to or from Abuja, some of them will
disembark to meet with the local women who sell by the roadside. They give
financial donations to the women, admitting the gifts are reparations for the
damages done to tubers and livestock, years back. Isn’t this
a confirmation that boys' schools are prisons of sorts?
Where I work, there are a couple of men from some of these schools. There are times they talk longingly about their antics during the school days. Some students were daring enough to kill whole goats and take them to the mountains where the goats are grilled and eaten. They would talk about how they often defied the rules to hide cooking stoves in dormitories so that inspectors wouldn't find them. They would talk about how “inmates” would fight ferociously over the illegal meals. When they talk about these things, however, I begin to feel like it may be a prison, but it is an experience that is worth having. I think that I gained and missed something at the same time.
