Dear Lecturers Comma – Stephen Addo

Stephen Adds writes….

We have had enough deliberations on the matter of ‘sex for grades’ in our various tertiary institutions and I think we should take a look at another canker.

Not undermining the input and tremendous efforts of our lecturers, it is obvious that almost all institutions have their own flaws and irregularities which I believe must be addressed.

Since matters of lecturers and tertiary institutions have become the talk of time and are making waves, I suppose it will be expedient to handpick one of the irregularities that goes on in our educational institutions — particularly the tertiary level.

This irregularity is a statement that almost threatens every student who has not been able to purchase a lecturer’s handout — “My handouts are not compulsory.” The statement for a moment may sound soothing to students who cannot afford the handout, until it is followed with another statement — “Course rep, write down the index numbers of those who have paid for the books.” Trust me, if you’re such a person from a very poor economic background, this statement alone is capable of causing a huge rise in your blood pressure and temperature as well, and to some extent, it can even frustrate your life on campus and compel you to even quit schooling.

Dear lecturers, I have been wondering the implication of these instructions you give to course reps by asking them to submit index numbers of those who have paid for your handouts and those who haven’t, even when you have clearly spelt out that, it is not compulsory to buy the books.

Dear lecturers, please understand that, some of your students are coming from homes that are unable to afford a three square meal a day. Their sustenance on campus is just say, by the grace by God. It is therefore, very intimidating when you begin to nauseate them with such statements; as though, the intention is to merely keep records of those who have paid for the books so it won’t skip them.

Sadly, most lecturers hardly update their handouts and yet, when they get to realize that a student is making use of a previous version of the handouts, these lecturers start barking with the intention of inculcating fear into students. In some cases, lecturers emphatically state that, the books are compulsory and that, failure to make a purchase is tantamount to failure. Ei! Saa? Hmmm.

Dear lecturers, please, whereas these handouts are of great importance to your students, understand that, they all were not born with silver spoons and hence, cannot all afford your handouts especially when there has not been the addition of any new information.

Dear lecturers, is it not okay to use the same books you sold to their elder brothers and sisters, since you only changed the covers and not the content?

We know how well these handouts served us but please, kindly stop milking your students by seeing them as an avenue for constantly creating an alternative source of income by changing book covers only. If it not for milking purposes, why then do you make it look like it is a blasphemy to use an old version of these books when clearly, all you have changed are the covers of the book?

Dear students, please, you too should do well to purchase your lecturer’s handout, if you can. It will serve as a reference to you. To them, it is a major business and a means to creating an alternative source of income because most of them have families to take care of. Lol.