By: Dosunmu Paul
University Independent occupies a prominent status among other tertiary institutions of learning in our country. Apart from being the Premier University in the country, it is also renowned for employing some lecturers of rare intelligence who have mastered the art of teaching without presence.
Sunday evening comes with a message from the Class Governor, “Make sure everyone is seated in class before 8am. I will not allow anyone to enter the class once I start the lecture.” Students gather faithfully, armed with their notebooks and pens, ready for the academic comeback they have promised themselves in the new semester.
Seconds turn to minutes and minutes stretch to hours, and then a little message drops, “The class has been cancelled.” Students finally disperse but comforted by a hard lesson learnt that patience is a virtue we all must imbibe. For what better way it is to teach resilience than by keeping young minds in suspense. This attitude becomes a pattern, rolls into several weeks.
The students begin to understand what their lecturerers have not, that coming to class is optional. Why start classes in the 1st week when you still have a whole 11 weeks for lectures. Students work best when they are put under pressure. We can expect them to deliver excellent results even if we start lectures in the 5th week.
Students are armed with the crucial knowledge that procrastination is indispensable in effective time management. Of course, these absences are not intentional. Our lecturers are busy men and women, engaged in crucial academic exercises, conducting academic research or lecturing in other schools. Or maybe they are simply protecting us from knowledge overload. After all, too much knowledge can be dangerous, so why burden students with facts when ignorance is far lighter to carry?
The ironic part however is that they’re still getting paid. Whether they show up to class or not, the paycheck remains unchanged. The irony reaches its zenith when these same educators, in their rare appearances deliver lessons to students on the need for punctuality and professional responsibility. This peculiar attitude creates an interesting academic environment. Students, keen observers of their mentors’ habits, begin to adopt similar attitudes towards classes. Why bother attending class if your lecturer isn’t bothered to teach?
Students once motivated to attend classes now go to classes out of sheer necessity or for fear of missing an impromptu test. Oh, and let’s not talk about the beautiful academic performance. Lectures are rushed, assignments pile up, students hardly understand what they are taught, their grades suffer, having a significant effect on their overall result.
Yet, only the wise of heart can see the brilliance of this plan. By lowering expectations so highly, lecturers ensure that any knowledge gained, no matter how minute, feels like a miracle. Students are introduced to creative ways of teaching themselves through half-baked notes, group discussions or use of the Internet. How I wished these solved the problem. But they do not. Students need guidance. They need someone to help them untangle the difficult concepts, to inspire curiosity, and to show them the value of the subject beyond the textbook.
In the end, education at University Independent becomes less about learning and more about survival, mastering boredom and savoring the sweet victory of a cancelled class. This attitude creates a self-perpetuating cycle of academic decline. As today’s students observe and internalize these behaviors, they become tomorrow’s absent lecturers, ensuring the tradition continues to the next generation.
