LET US ALL BE AWARE

Dear colleagues,

As we continue moving through this week, I’d like to ask that we try to keep things in perspective and I’d like to ask that in spite of the severity of this world pandemic and the great importance of maintaining continuity in the running of the Academy, we all take a step back from the intricacies and demands of creating a virtual school and remember that our students are also in the middle of this global crisis and may be feeling it in more personal ways than we realize. In the last few weeks, I’ve become increasingly aware of the following and I would like to share it with you in the hope that it will help all of us to be more sensitive as we all try to navigate our way through this unprecedented world challenge:

• There are students whose parents, siblings or other family members have (knowingly or unknowingly) compromised immune systems or have major health concerns. They are terrified.
• There are students whose parents or other loved ones are doctors. They are under stress.
• There are students who are fully responsible for supervising the school work of younger siblings as well as taking care of their own commitments. They are overwhelmed.
• There are students who have been moved away to other homes/farms/relatives for their protection. They are disoriented.
• There are students who consume news and don’t have the maturity or discernment skills to evaluate the information they are exposed to and to put it in perspective. They are confused.
• There are students who have been suddenly and unexpectedly cut off from friends and support systems. They are lonely.
• There are students who face challenges at home with dysfunctions of all kinds, and no way to ‘escape’ it like they do when they are at school. They are anxious.

You may well be asking. ‘Who are these students?’ The simple answer is that it could be any of them. I dare say, it could even be all of them, in one way or another. Whatever the case, the truth of the matter is that they may be going through all of these emotions in silence and may not necessarily speak up. Even those who wish to speak may not be able to articulate their feelings. Having said this, let us as their teachers please be careful to control jumping to such conclusions as saying that such students are either ‘lazy’ or ‘trying to manipulate’ such a precarious situation. Yes. Although I must admit that undoubtedly there may the odd one or two students who have ‘shaken off’ school and are playing around on Tik Tok all day without a care in the world, if we look a little more closely, we may find that it is more likely that in fact they are not doing what we thought. Since we can’t be sure, therefore, we need to demonstrate sensitivity and compassion, which at the end of the day with the current circumstances, are more important than any subject content.

With all of this in mind and like I said, even though it is imperative for us to continue to run the Academy and provide continued educational services to our parents and students remotely, I would like to us the following advice. Please for the time being at least, let us refrain from giving our students assignments that involve ‘writing about’ or ‘reflecting on’ coronavirus and the situation in the world. We have received feedback that it’s too upsetting, too raw for some students. We’re still in the middle of the crisis and some students (and many adults for that matter) are just unable to process it at the moment.

Much as I understand the intention behind the need to bridge the gap between content and real life, I am also convinced that at this delicate time, we need to very carefully balance sound educational practice with minimizing the risk of causing undue damage and distress to our students and parents in the process. Due to the unprecedented nature of the current situation in the world at large and in Nigeria in particular, as far as it affects us and other members of Premiere Academy, managing and maintaining this balance has major implications if we don’t do it well. We just have to get it right, therefore, and God will surely give us the wisdom to achieve this.

Let me end this message with a famous quote that says, ‘Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.’ This is as true for our students and parents as it is for each of us as individuals, colleagues, friends and members of the Premiere Academy family. May Almighty God continue to protect us, guide us and give us the wisdom to do the right thing by our students and parents as we do all in our power to stay safe at this challenging time. Let us continue to be wise.

God bless us and God bless Premiere Academy.

Rowland E. Eno

Principal