LETTER TO THE PRINCIPALS AND HEADMASTERS
The Demand for Principles and Professionalism
Gambian society is in a state of flux. Each change comes with its demands
and priorities. Such changes call for fundamental alteration in priorities
and decisions, without which our conduct would be ill-suited for what the
situation demands.
The issues which now confront the educational system transcend what is
customary. It is, therefore, absolutely essential that the situation is
approached with caution and maturity. As administrators of the school
system, it is your duty to take into consideration the diverse and
conflicting opinions which are being transmitted regarding the events of 10
and 11 April 2000 before taking a final posture.
Already attempts are being made by officials of the State to draw you to
accept a given interpretation of what transpired. We have read reports in
the Government press indicating that what happened on 10 and 11 April 2000
is a manifestation of a school system which is breeding vagabonds, bandits
and criminals. There are insinuations that rebels using the guise of
students have utilised the cloak of liberty and human rights in order to
deliver catastrophe upon the society. There is call for the identification
of leaders for disciplinary action; that principals and headmasters should
take the posture of disciplinarians so as to prevent the recurrence of such
actions in the future.
It is unfortunate that such statements would feature at a time when people
in position of public trust should be sensitive to the unique
responsibilities of their office. There is absolutely no doubt that the
statements constitute an oversimplification of the true picture of the
situation that prevailed on 10 and 11 April 2000.
What is required at this juncture is to give weight to all suggestions that
would help to give appropriate consideration to all perspectives so that we
will be able to map out what the circumstances demand.
The diverging views that are being expressed suggest the difficulty in
assigning accurate weights to the different claims that are being made
regarding the cause of the incident of 10 and 11 April 2000. The evidence
that we have been able to gather, though still limited, have shown the
catastrophic pitfalls which may have given rise to the devastation which
occurred on 10 and 11 April 2000. A careful reading of such evidence would
render the charge as baseless that criminal tendencies within the school
system are to blame for the crisis.
It is elementary knowledge that the students were reacting to tendencies to
abuse authority and honour human values with disregard which led to the
killing of Ebrima Barry and the raping of a school girl. In actual fact, the
initial actions of the students were geared towards combating the tendencies
that they are being accused of displaying. What can be more criminal than to
perpetrate murder or rape? What can be more just than to call for action to
apprehend and try the perpetrators?
It is important that in dealing with this sensitive issue that you do not
pass judgment without compelling evidence to back it. The future of the
school system lies in your very hands. You are the pillars of the education
system. The degree of your sense of professionalism and devotion to
principles will determine whether the educational system stands firm in the
face of the present challenge or crumbles.
In many countries today, the school systems are hardly functional because of
crisis. The Gambian school system is not paralysed because of strikes by
teachers for higher wages; or strikes by students for more allowances. The
crisis which engulfs the Gambian school system is due to the desire of
Gambian children for justice to be done and be seen to be done. They are
struggling for a decent society free from arbitrary arrest, torture and
rape.
If those who govern the affairs of this country were sensitive to their
unique responsibilities, they would not have transformed peaceful
demonstrators into outlaws. What happened at GTTI is yet to be told. A
Coroner's Inquest is under the way. A Commission of Enquiry will follow. It
is, therefore, best to leave the facts to come from the people themselves.
We have no doubt that what happened at GTTI is the mother of the devastation
which occurred thereafter.
All of you know that the Gambian school system simply requires leadership to
take the direction that would ensure that the educational institutions serve
their primary purpose of developing the powers of the minds of our children,
accord them with the skills and knowledge necessary to play their part in
the general division of labour in our society as well as impart in them the
standards of behaviour that are reasonably justifiable in a democratic and
independent country.
Many diplomats have never failed to be amazed by the quality of debates in
our school system. Peer group educators are everywhere; young people are
becoming orators. The yearning for information and knowledge is the order of
the day. Gambia is certainly not raising vagabonds and criminals in our
school system. They are raising young people who are no longer mere robots
to be programmed, indoctrinated and tele-guided. They are thinking young
people who have to be convinced, inspired and moved by self-imposed
discipline.
It is important to convey to you that the school system has not suffered a
breakdown. It should not be drawn into the crisis. It is the security
apparatus which has suffered a breakdown. It is this breakdown which is
holding the school system as hostage. Authorities fear that the opening of
schools could lead to the reorganisation of the students. The students have
nothing against their teachers and principals. You must not allow anyone to
drive a wedge between you and your students.
The situation which confronts the regime is not a complex one. What it needs
to do is to simply release all students, hold no trials, allow the Coroner's
Inquest and commission of enquiry to proceed and then act on the
recommendations. The schools will easily return to normalcy if such an
approach is taken.
The most you can do is to hold parent teachers meetings and inform the
parents that the school system will strive top meet their expectations if
they get their cooperation.
What the school system needs are not autocrats taking the guise of
disciplinarians. What are needed are professional school administrators
whose minds have been imparted with noble visions of justice, democracy,
freedom; school administrators who can show concern for the children,
inspire them to have a sense of belonging to the institutions; to have a
sense of ownership of public property; to have love for their country and
people and to rise to a level where they could even turn their backs to
their own personal interests in order to promote the national interest.
There is no doubt that the movement which emerged in defence of Ebrima Barry
and Binta Manneh has that symbolic value. The cause was a moral one. The
response defeated the cause. Herein lies the root of the problem.
As administrators, it is your duty to examine the demands of the situation
and give appropriate response to them. The current trend is for the
President to appease the people by giving a speech without uttering any
condemnation, visiting the hospital and sending delegations to the families
of the deceased while religious leaders, opinion leaders and others are
reported to be uttering condemnations. No person of principles should
acquiesce to such an agenda of shifting blames to the victims.
We have confidence you will not be the type of head teachers and principals
who would establish draconian codes of conduct which could be relied on to
arbitrarily expel and suspend children and deprive them of a future? What
type of future society would you be building by adopting such measures? Can
a society survive on hate and vengeance? Are the signs in the world not
clear enough that what we need is to promote a sense of community; a sense
of concern for each other's problems? What has given rise to small children
taking guns and going to their schools to slaughter their teachers and their
fellow students in the United States?
In The Gambia, it was students coming together to call on the authorities to
investigate the death and raping of their fellow students. Who needs cure -
the students or the system? Who needs indictment - the students or the
system?
It has long been a tradition for those who manage public affairs to assume
ownership of public institutions. In actual fact, public institutions are
properties of the people. The schools are built by the tax money of the
people. All public officers are paid by the people. Headmasters and
principals should, therefore, see themselves as employees of the people.
Governments come and go, but the public service remains. The standards that
should be built should not be ones which are based on the whims and caprices
of a government, but ones that suit the needs and aspirations of the people.
The headmasters and principles should not see the government as sovereign.
They should see the people as sovereign.
What is essential during this critical moment is for the security forces,
the students, the government and the school administrators and teachers to
critically analyse what really happened and how each behaved during such
critical moment.
We hope that you, the administrators of the educational institution, will
engage in such conduct that would prevent the possibility of circumstances
as had prevailed on 10 and 11 April 2000 from recurring in the future. You
have the primary responsibility to ensure that your credibility is not
eroded by being seen to be apologists of the Government.
We greatly hope that your conduct will be exemplary; that you will continue
to engrain in our children a democratic culture; that you will continue to
help them to understand the pitfalls of life; that you will continue to
assist them to discover their potentialities; that you will continue to
engrain in them the virtues of shouldering civic responsibilities; that you
will imbue in them courage and wisdom, the capacity to discern and make
rational judgments, the virtues that are required if they are going to be
the architects of their own destiny.
...........................................
Halifa Sallah
For: The Editorial Board.
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