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Focus
on Education Could Bring Back The Glorious Days
Monday,
May 19, 2008
By Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh
I
caught myself trying to recite 's-o, so' the other day
as I traveled on interstate 285 East on my way to
visit a friend whom I have not seen in quite a long
period of time.
A great way to reminisce, isn't it, about
a childhood experience that's so rich in history, and
exciting to reflect upon for many kids and adults who
were made to memorize those awkward combination of
mixed letters, a tough act those days and even today
causing many kids and adults to break a sweat or tears
when asked to recite those lines in class and in front
of a no-nonsense teacher who did not hesitate to use
the rattan if necessary.
I am not a fan of s-o, so, nor do I claim
to master it at this late stage of my life when my
brain is not as functional as it was when I was an
elementary school kid. Even up to this day, I still
cannot say or recite s-o, so skillfully, because I
have since forgotten how to recite it without
fumbling.
However, I am grateful because that exercise
and its complicated mechanics probably shaped my focus
on phonetics and a future that awaited me not knowing
I would one day be a writer, who also have to deal
with the nuances we humans have to deal with on a
daily basis.
Can you imagine one saying letters like, s-o,
so; g-o, go; l-o, lo; n-o, no; h-e, he; b-e, be; m-e,
me; w-e, we; a-t, a-t, a-n, an; a-m, am; b-y, by; m-y,
my; o-n, on; o-f, of; etc, etc, simultaneously, and in
order, while one’s teacher is standing by with a
rattan ready to spank a kid when a mistake is made?
Now you see what I am talking about?
S-o, so, like a, b, c are not the only subjects
embedded in the curriculums of some school districts,
especially the poor start-up city schools and some
rural ones in Liberia.
Students are often required to complete those
two subjects or grade levels, a b c and s-o, so,
before they are allowed to ascend to the next grade,
which can be primer one, then primer two before that
particular student is ever allowed to go on to the
first grade. When that is all complete, the child is
about 10 years old and too old to be in the first
grade.
Check this out! Many rural schools that don’t
have the books to teach their eager students are
forced to use that antiquated British textbook known
either as the Royal Primer Reader or the Royal Infant
Reader, believed by many in the interior of some parts
of Liberia to be higher and better than an average
American textbook used in a typical Liberian high
school.
While the learning of s-o, so may be a good
idea for some, its origin is unknown and its purpose
undefined, because the author and those who introduced
it into the mainstream Liberian educational system
haven't made it known why Liberian students have to
learn those combination of mixed letters, when we have
the common universal alphabet of a b c, which students
are mandated to learn in school daily.
One of the tragedies of the Liberian civil war
other than deaths and destruction has been the
shameless assaults on education. As such, Liberians
will have to learn to be original and creative in
developing materials that is meaningful to their lives
and the educational system. Our non-PhD educators and
those with higher education must join hands with
others in devising local educational materials that
Liberian students can proudly use in school.
Politicians, policy-makers, civic, religious
and business leaders have to also give their moral and
financial in this effort so that our young minds will
not be wasted.
Instead of all or some of our PhD educators
running to be President of Liberia during every
election season, they must learn to focus their minds
by helping to revise the Liberian educational system
so that it will stand the test of modern teaching
standards, so as to move Liberia from where she is
today to a glorious tomorrow.
(Reprinted from The Liberian Dialogue Archives,
2004)
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