Happy New Year everyone! Or, as they say in Twi, Afi hyia pa!
I’m going to open this blog with a very generalized sentence that should be taken with as little judgment as possible: time functions very differently here in Ghana than it does in the States.
Yesterday (Tuesday 4 January) was the first day back for Manye. In the States, the first day of school, either for the year, or for the term, is a pretty big deal. Kids pick out a special outfit, everyone gets to share stories about the break, no one has homework… that first day is filled with energy and excitement. Not so much here in Ghana. Out of the 200 or so students at the school, only about 25 showed up on the first day back. And several teachers weren’t here either. Some of the classes were combined, but not much was taught because 90% of students weren’t there. This situation happened when I first arrived in September as well. Attendance was minimal at first, but increased steadily over the first two weeks. By the Monday of the third week, attendance was up to normal.
I assumed (or rather, hoped) that the beginning of the second term would be different than the beginning of a whole new school year. Apparently, I was wrong. In hindsight, it makes sense, because, as I said above, time functions differently here in Ghana than it does in the States.
Start times, deadlines, durations, appointments, travel times… all of these are much more flexible here. If something is supposed to start at 9am, chances are it won’t start until 10 or 10:30. Similarly, if someone says it takes 30 minutes to get somewhere, plan on it taking about 2 hours. If someone says they will do something “tomorrow,” they’re probably actually thinking “I understand that you think this is important. I’ll do it when I get around to it.”
For the most part, it’s pretty easy to adapt. For myself, I would rather be early (on time) than be the one everyone is waiting for. So you bring something with you (book, iPod, etc) for entertainment; more often however, Jamie and I use each other for entertainment. It’s something to joke about – being on “Ghana time” – and it seems pretty harmless, if inefficient.
But in many ways, it’s also a self-fulfilling prophecy. People don’t want to be on time, because they’ll be the only ones. And even if one is on time, most things don’t start then anyway. So those who are punctual are in fact punished because society caters to those who follow a more flexible time system.
How does this apply to education? Manye’s school day officially starts at 8am, with the Morning Assembly. JHS students have extra morning classes, and they’re also supposed to listen to a short radio program at 6:45am, so they’re supposed to come earlier. But instead of telling students to be on time at either 6:45 or 8am, management tells students to come at 6:30 or 7. A few kids do this, and they have the chance to read or do homework before everyone else arrives. But for the most part, kids show up when they finish their morning chores and can get to school.
Another example: PTA meetings usually start at 3pm. At my first one, there were only about 15 people here at 3pm, but by 4:30, when the meeting was in full swing, there were closer to 75. In November, some parents managed to show up early, so management decided to start the meeting 30 minutes ahead of schedule. To most of us in the States, where scheduling is a way of life, this seems crazy and frustrating. And yea, sometimes it drives me crazy.
But how can you blame kids for being late to school when many families don’t have clocks and even those who don’t usually don’t use them for alarms? Where there’s no cultural precedent for paying attention to specifics of time? You can’t. All you can do is set an example: show up on time and positively reinforce the behavior of those students (and parents) who do come on time. Which is what Jamie and I try to do. And try to encourage the school to do as well. But it’s definitely an uphill battle.
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