Kon Eme
'You can ask around, no one scores 70 in my class'. I'm sure by now, that phrase isn't unfamiliar to Nigerian students, the phrase is constantly thrown to students, although the motives of those uttering these words are not properly understood, especially when the lecturers revel in the fact that not many of their students can boast of a passing grade. In situations like this, is the poor performance of the student something the lecturer should take pride in? Why do lecturers think their courses have to be grueling to be a worthwhile pursuit?
As students, we've faced the frustrations of pouring over our books, studying hard each exam season. Hoping to improve our CGPA, only to be informed by a weary predecessor that "The lecturer does not give 'A's in his class". Those of us unfortunate enough to have experienced this, also know that there are two routes to take, One; give up and do the bare minimum, after all, You're not going to get a good mark anyway and Two; study even harder than ever, only to realize that your studying was in vain and you weren't given the marks you know you deserve. Thus, you want to challenge the scores but are advised strongly against it, as doing so will only antagonize you in the eyes of the lecturer. Why are these the only two options we are faced with though? How are we supposed to succeed in a system that's rigged against us?
The bitter truth of the situation is that the only way to beat this system is to take constitutional action against that lecturer but this isn't an option for most students who are afraid of being held back or being 'marked' by a certain lecturer. What then can we do? Why are we forced to continue fighting an uphill battle? Why do lecturers do this?
One of the reason lecturers do this is the same reason schools ramp up their difficulty and press harder on their students during inspections- they want the appeal of being the best. If you course is seen as 'very difficult' and impossible to pass by the masses, you're seen as a rigid and well learned individual who has a high bar that no ordinary student is able to reach and that fuels the competition in the more brilliant students, to be the one to get a distinction in such a hellish subject. However, it's vastly unfair to the rest of the student body who also want to pass but know that nothing they write is going to live up to the lecturer's expectations. If the lecturer has such a high bar for their course, why not just teach the students how to reach that bar instead of declaring them losers before the race has even begun?
A large part of the blame can be put on the country's disregard for the academics. Teachers are rarely paid and when they are, they are underpaid for their hard work. Even those who have a passion for teaching can only take so much until that passion becomes resentment. The workload increases and so do the students but the salary rarely does. Some of these lecturers resort to these methods to cut down the amount of students taking their course, in a way other than telling them outright to drop the course. When the teaching becomes a daily drone that they have to ascribe to due to capitalism, eventually, lecturers tend to lose regard for the students, not caring if you actually understand or if your CGPA is suffering. As long as you have the bare minimum points needed to pass.
Problems like these can't be solved at face value as much as we wish they could, its parasitic nature digs deep and leads back - like most other things do- to politics. We can do our part however by remembering to humanize one another. Take your complaints to the student union, of course, but don't villanize your lecturers just yet. The more peaceful options to avoiding serious confrontation is always the best option for all parties involved. Letting lecturers understand what is at stake for all parties involved won't immediately solve the problem we are facing but it is one suitable step we can take in order to reach our goals.
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