Primary level Teacher at the Reformatory Centre of a Prison in Bamenda, Cameroon  

 25 May 2020 

Life before Covid-19  

 Before the pandemic started, my normal activity was teaching at the Juvenile Reformatory school within the Bamenda Central prison in the North West Region of Cameroon. The lock down put a stop to my work like everyone else in the country. This is a special school because the learners are not like those in normal schools. They are mostly delinquent children, minors who have been involved in different crimes such as theft, killing, rape etc. When they are arrested and detained in prison or sentenced, the prison administrators cannot mix them with older prisoners. So a smaller section has been created within the prison just for these children to undergo some reformation; that is why the school is called a reformatory school. The belief is that, though this children have bad character, they can still be reformed and sent back into society to live decent lives. The school has a primary section and a post primary section which is a two-year vocational school where these children can learn a quick trade like carpentry, building or motor mechanics in order to be able to find a job after prison. My students are between the ages of 12 and 18 but the enrolment fluctuates given that some are released a month after they are arrested and others stay for longer periods. Many of them have not been to school before so we split them into three level groups with each group corresponding to two levels of the regular primary school, that is, level One (Years 1 &2) Level Two (years 3 & 4) and level Three (years 5 & 6). 

It was never easy teaching in this school because the students do not want to learn, they feel that they came to prison to serve a punishment for their crime and not to be learning. 

It was never easy teaching in this school because the students do not want to learn, they feel that they came to prison to serve a punishment for their crime and not to be learning. Many of them are on drugs and sometimes they would obtain permission to go out for a comfort break and return looking all pumped up from taking drugs. A major part of my job was to motivate them to learn rather than actually teaching them. Sometimes I had to cook food from my house and take to them so that they see me more as their mother and listen to me. Whenever I brought them food, they would listen and answer my questions in class, but other times, they just kept staring outside and are completely disengaged. 

My main worry, before the pandemic was how to help the children abandon their negative behaviour and become normal citizens. Apart from teaching, I spent a lot of time giving them advice and I can say my advice was more important than the subject content I was teaching them. 

On a typical day, my teaching was mainly at primary level although some of my students were above primary age; this year for example, I was teaching at level One (Years 1 &2). Like all primary school teachers, I taught all subjects in the primary curriculum and the enrolment ranged from 6 to 10 students each time. Some had had little exposure to schooling but others came from families and cultures where formal education was not encouraged. My typical day included starting with a general assembly where we sang the national anthem, prayed and matched to class. Then I taught subjects such as maths, English, general knowledge, health education etc. To motivate them to learn, I used a lot of teaching aid which I bring with me from home and engage them in practical activities. Classes end at midday, so the curriculum content is very light; after midday, we let them go and find something to eat because they come to class without having eaten and are fed only once a day by the prison authorities. My main worry, before the pandemic was how to help the children abandon their negative behaviour and become normal citizens. Apart from teaching, I spent a lot of time giving them advice and I can say my advice was more important than the subject content I was teaching them. Many came to prison not because they wanted to, but because for one reason or the other they got caught up in an unfortunate situation. 

How life has changed because of Covid-19 

I feel very bad because those students need me all the time and personally, I thought my students loved my presence and I am not happy that I am not there to be giving them the moral support and encouragement they need to see themselves as normal humans. 

The pandemic has affected me in many ways; staying home, eating and sleeping is not a good thing for my mental and physical health. The government stopped schools and this also was the case in the reformatory; the prison authorities stopped people from visiting the prison so we were completely shot out from working with our students because the prison did not have the facilities to test anyone coming into the prison and was afraid of people bringing in a COVID-19 infection into the prison. I feel very bad because those students need me all the time and personally, I thought my students loved my presence and I am not happy that I am not there to be giving them the moral support and encouragement they need to see themselves as normal humans. They do not have any learning resources and basic things like exercise books, pens and pencils are not available to them. In normal times, I had to copy everything on the board and read along with them. So it is not even possible for them to study on their own. My biggest concern is to be able to get back to work and help these young people but unfortunately everything is grounded for now and there is no effort or even support from the prison and education hierarchy to enable me help these students.  

Their association to crime, their challenging behaviour and also the way they are perceived and treated by society means that I have to work harder to support them intellectually and morally; not being able to do that now is a personal concern. 

Emerging opportunities 

My role as a teacher has not changed because I still continue to teach my own children and relatives at home. The only difference is that I do not go to teach my usual students who, by virtue of their circumstances can be called special needs students. Their association to crime, their challenging behaviour and also the way they are perceived and treated by society means that I have to work harder to support them intellectually and morally; not being able to do that now is a personal concern. However, I can say my priorities have changed from helping these students to helping my own children and family relations of school age more. Besides this, I also spend some time online learning for myself and I have been helped by other colleagues in the CAMELTA (Cameroon English Language & Literature Teachers’ Association) Chat Group on WhatsApp; there are so many things I did not know before but by being a member of the group, I have learned a lot. I left school many years ago and have not really engaged with my own professional development; through the group, I am now able to do things I couldn’t do before. For example, I can now write a speech on my own and can also host a weekly session called ‘Sunday Magazine’. Initially, I was not confident that I could take a leading role in any professional activity but other colleagues in the group encouraged me and that made me do some more personal research to prepare my first presentation and the feedback has encouraged me to continue to play an active role in the group. 

Future fears and hopes  

I will start with my students: I am comforted by the fact that some of my previous students are out there doing good work for themselves and for society. Sometimes I meet some and they come to greet me and in our conversations I hear about what they have gone on to do after their time in the rehabilitation centre and this gives me joy. Some go back to regular mainstream schools, others become apprentices and learn a trade and are able to earn a living. My hopes are to continue to support those I work with so I can hopefully inspire them, through examples from others like them, to see themselves as useful individuals in their societies. My fears are about the fact that some of my previous students get back into crime and are returned to prison and the fact that there is no real support for them at this time might only expose them to more criminal thoughts in prison.  

My fears are about the fact that some of my previous students get back into crime and are returned to prison and the fact that there is no real support for them at this time might only expose them to more criminal thoughts in prison. 

At a personal level, I would like to learn more about how to deal with challenging children like the ones I teach. I do not like to see children in prison and if I could learn strategies to teach juvenile delinquents, that will be helpful. I trained as a primary school teacher before studying for a degree in Sciences of education and none of these prepared me to teach children with challenging behaviours and criminal history; so this is still a challenge for me and my hope is that I will be able to learn more about how to best support my students. 

I see the possibility of teachers organising supplementary online classes with their students in the future during after school hours without needing to go into a classroom. 

In terms of our profession, my fear is that because schools have been grounded, many teachers might have become lazy and have forgotten both content and pedagogic knowledge and will not be in the right frame of mind to support students when we get back to school. Students too have been away from school for long with no engagement in learning and would have forgotten what they learned at the beginning of the school year. It will take a lot of effort to bring them back into school mood and to retrieve past knowledge to be able to develop new knowledge with them when schools resume. However, I am also hoping that those teachers who have been involved in continuous professional development during this pandemic have upgraded their skills in online education and would be the ones leading the way in training their colleagues. I see the possibility of teachers organising supplementary online classes with their students in the future during after school hours without needing to go into a classroom.