Kelli's class has sent me some questions about the schools here in Benin. The education system is based on the French system. It is divided into Primary school (6 years) , Secondary school (4 years) , and 2nd cycle (which is like high school, 3 years). Primary school was recently made free to all children so most kids start going to school at 5 y.o., just like when the kids in the US go to kindergarten. Unfortunately, secondary school costs money and many students do not make it into secondary school and far fewer graduate from it. Very few girls go to secondary school. This is a problem in a lot of third world nations because families usually have a lot of kids and they cannot afford to continue to send their children to school to attain a higher education. The children (girls in particular) are used to do work in family fields or around the house.
One thing that is nice(I would find if I was still a student) is the grade scale:
The Grading scale: From 0 ( zero) to 20 with 20 being the highest grade.
Passing Grade: 10
Fairly Good Grade: 12
Good Grade: 14- 15
Very Good Grade:16- 17
Excellent:18 to 20
A 60 percent equals a fairly good grade!! I wish the folks at UF followed the french system more closely.
Another difference between our schools and Beninese schools are the class sizes and the age range of children found in these classes. 60+ students in a classroom is not uncommon. Ages of students in secondary school typically range from 11 to 22 y.o. Critical thinking and other skills are ignored as the student learn by copying everything their professor puts on the black board verbatim. In fact, the students are soo meticulous, that if you start writing things all over the blackboard or erasing sections and re-writing them or drawing connections between 2 earlier items on the board ...instead of writing in ordered rows, like writing on a computer or a typewriter... the students get very confused and upset that they cannot copy what the teacher is doing EXACTLY.
At home the girls participate or take the lead in most of the household chores. Boys mostly play with siblings/friends or do school work. For fun boardgames are popular and soccer is of course their favorite sport here. I don't believe I've met a Beninese who knows what American football is, yet. And as for music...Akon and rap is very popular here (especially Nigerian rap). So is Celine Dion and Peter Gabriel and other late 80's / early 90's music personalities.
That's all I have for now, but keep those questions coming!
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4 comments:
hey,glad to hear that you are feeling better that is good!!!thanx for all the answers to my classes questions!!!!my teacher said tomorrow we can go on your blog and ask you some more questions so that is really cool that you can still watch football!!!!!
love,kelli and aunt jill
Awesome to hear you are feeling better, my family was concerned for you. Tampa Bay needs to stop sucking (even though they are winning) and my Fantasy Football team is in the gutter, football is not following trends this year damnit!!
Just got into work and usually the first thing I do every morning is come check your Blog (I love my job, you know that :) ).
My dad ended up in the paper this last week, some punk kid tried to steal some stuff, my dad stopped him and ended up getting stabbed in the hand, and his ICD went off twice, but he is ok now. Old man of 57 took down a 24 year old kid, so proud to be his son. Anyways, Gators keep looking good, and you stay healthy.
Ron.
Did the kid try to steal stuff from the store? Did you father sit on him till the cops came? Yeah, this season is totally messed up...but at least the Pats lost to the Fins, Im sure Narq is happy to no end.
My precious Son, I can't tell you how pleased I was to see your picture. Just seeing your face meant so much to me. I am glad you are feeling better. You were always on my mind and in my prayers. I love you, Michael.
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