Teaching...

I am really happy to see some good reviews of this blog from Ethiopians. Sorry I am not very sentimental on any country so some of my views may tend to seem too harsh on your country and your people. I write from a total stranger's viewpoint, based on a ten-month stay experience, which is not much, but which does give me lots of ideas to write about. My sister went there last month to begin her as-yet-duration-unknown vacation, and she has got a job in a private primary school as an environmental science school teacher. She will be starting to teach from tomorrow. I will be hearing from her soon so will post her experiences once I get her emails.

I taught in the community school there for a month. This school is run by Jimma University and most of the teachers are students of the university, who work part time at the school. I volunteered to teach Mathematics for Grade 12 students for a month. This is really some experience that I can never forget in my life. Let me give a vague scenario at the school there. The students I taught are the first batch of students to appear for Grade 12 board exams. They were totally 15 of them. Most of them liked me a lot, especially the girls because they did not have a female teacher before and they welcomed the idea of having me around. My classes were very interesting. In the beginning, I had a little problem, coz my language was too fast and the students couldn't understand me. The math teacher there with whom I collaborated suggested I try to slow down, if not, quit. The students later admitted they didn't like me in the beginning coz I was too fast in teaching. I slowed down, then they started liking me.

I was strict only when the subject was taught; the rest of the time, we freaked! To the extent that the teachers from next class popped in to tell us to maintain silence. We had a nice interactive session during class hours. I told them about India, they told me about Ethiopia. They sang their national anthem to me, I sang the Indian one to them. We talked movies, music, food and a lot of other stuff. The batch I handled were really mature students and very brilliant, and quite naughty too. They gave me a farewell party where we met up in a cafe, and they presented me with a card with a thank-you note. It was really enjoyable and refreshing to interact with them. I also discovered that I could teach, a profession that is reserved as a last resort. Guess its in the blood...got three generations of teachers in the family.