Welcome back to the second semester of a very long academic session. Before you fully lock in, there is a critical concern to mull over, which has received little to no attention. It is the issue of disappearing non-academic holiday that is becoming a new norm. Why should students end the previous academic semester without a tangible break but into another one? What is the prospect and hazard of this solemn reality, which definitely has an impact on the general well-being of all the characters within the University?
The origin of the famous refrain, ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’ is not known. Literature however acknowledges that it is a timeless maxim. Its contemporary root stretches back, only further in 1659, in a work titled ‘Proverbs’, an incisive book written by James Howell, who was an influential writer and historian. The saying, now used in almost every day life, has ever since been used over and again, aged as it is and routinely. Despite its frequent appearances, whether in popular culture, in novels, in seminars, in movies, in so many places, the true depth and significance of the saying, has remained unexamined, leaving its meaning also in truth unexplored. The University of Ibadan, seeing the transition in academic calendar, seems to be a victim, to the commonness, of this aged saying.
The 2023/2024 academic calendar slated first semester examination to be concluded on Friday, 25th of October 2024, and lecture activities for second semester to have begun a week after – on Monday, 4th of November 2024. In the event of strict adherence, the calendar earmarked one non-academic week to recuperate from the weeks of the strenuous first semester examination. This would mean that students were expected to move from the strenuous academic semester, which was four months long, to another, with only seven days to breathe out and then in. The one-week break was unfortunately compromised. It was violated by the occurrence of exams in places like the Faculty of Arts, leaving the students to only a weekend’s buffer, ahead of a new academic semester.
The University of Ibadan recent style of shortening academic semesters and holidays has not gone unnoticed. Beyond indifference, it is an interrogated trend that deserves critical evaluation.To have move from a 16-week semester calendar to a 13-week, usually snarl up students within tight schedules for tests and assignments. This ‘racing’ system, seemingly the new normal, raises serious concern, at its own expense.
For one, the crisis of recurring strikes; both external and internal that have characterized the Nigerian education sector has been a driving cause. Such strikes — more popularly activated by staff unions — have turned the academic calendar on its head many times. The impact of previous strikes have been so severe that the University of Ibadan could not conduct its Post-UTME examination in 2020. It had its cost implications. The strikes had its successes too, conceptualizing the hearing-impaired nature of the right-wing Government which Nigeria has always had.
The consequences of such a disruption extend beyond the current academic semester. Previously, students who were already enrolled had to wait an additional year in their academic programs, while the University tried to clear the backlog caused by the lengthy shutdown. This delay not only pushed back their graduation date, but also threw off their career ambitions and personal timetables. The University’s schedule has been compressed due to the need to make up lost time and straighten with the academic calendar. By shortening semesters and holidays, the University pushes to lessen the long-term consequences of these disruptions. This haste, self-evidently, brings its own set of defects and deficits. It increases academic pressure on students and lecturers, it impairs time for holistic learning, and create little to no opportunity for extracurricular activities.
The act of shortening students’ holiday period is absurd when the culture of late resumption is introduced into the discourse. In UI, it is common to see that a wide array of faculties and departments resume academic activities usually after a month or even far later. With only two or three exceptions resuming on the actual day of resumption, students in many other departments are left with the dilemma of either getting ready for the new semester or simply enjoying a self-imposed and false holiday. To explain, the fourth week is usually when academic activities begin to peak, tests, assignments and group projects usually begin to flow. This causes a strain on students who later feel overwhelmed in the jamming weeks.
The repercussions of short holidays bring the discussion to the other perspective. It is crucial to recognize the irreplaceable value of academic holidays — not just as time-off but as an essential period for growth, recovery, and holistic development.
Mentally, holidays are of great benefits to students. Every semester, students make various comments pointing at the negative impact the strain of UI’s academic semester had on their mental health. They say this during and at many anonymous virtual spaces. Stress anxiety and burnout lies in all corner of the University walls. A well-planned break allows students to unwind, participate in recreational activities, and return with fresh attention and energy.
Holidays provide excellent opportunities for experiential learning outside of the classroom setting. They allow students to pursue hobbies outside of their studies. Internships, volunteer programs, and even hobbies provide practical skills and knowledge that traditional education frequently ignores. Lecturers are not left out of the picture because they, too, require time to recover. They are the usually overworked kind.
Academic breaks allow people to reflect, rest, and prepare for the upcoming semester. Without adequate time-off, the risk of burnout among students rise, inevitably affecting the quality of instruction provided and its assimilation. The disappearing culture of academic holiday at the University of Ibadan is beyond care-freeness, it is a matter worth its weight in sanity.
In its eagerness to recuperate from lost academic time, the University of Ibadan risks losing more than it gains. The burden of constant academic activity without proper breaks does not foster an environment for academic excellence but one for burnout, decreased productivity, and deteriorating mental health. Students are left to deal with more academic pressure, less chances for extracurricular activities, and less time for personal development. The culture of departments resuming four weeks later also defeats the idea of short holidays and rushed academic activities, leaving the academic calendar and structure of the university on its neck.
A well-structured academic calendar with enough breaks should not be a luxury. It is part of the right system the University currently lacks. It is part of what can help promote a healthier, more productive learning environment, as much as it would guarantee students and lecturers are better prepared to meet the demands and supply of the academic year.
In its pursuit of excellence, if so, the University of Ibadan Senate must rethink and acknowledge that true academic greatness can only be solidly built on a foundation of balance, well-being, and overall growth.
