School Daze
A couple people have commented that my blog has been pretty sparse lately, and while I don’t feel like I’ve been writing any less than I always have, I agree that it’s about time for an update.
I just returned to Romanum (and am back on Weno now just for the day) on Tuesday after spending a week on Weno for the Department of Education’s annual Education Symposium. It was a week of ups and downs, plus a few lefts and rights. I’ve realized that my tolerance for life on Weno doesn’t carry me much further than a week; any longer than that and the general ridiculousness of the island starts to become unbearable. For the sake of not making people unnecessarily concerned for my well-being, I’ll skip over some details here, except to say that it really is astounding how little respect some men—and even young kids—have for women. I mean really, maddeningly astounding. But apart from that, Chuuk’s main island presents all kinds of challenges. It’s been raining a lot recently, which means the roads, which are more pothole than pavement in the first place, have turned into rivers and pools of mud. Add to that the apparently endless road construction (which seems to only be causing more problems instead of solving any), and trying to walk anywhere becomes a monumental pain. Almost every day I had to trudge from where I was staying with the JVIs (Jesuit Volunteers) at one of the island’s Catholic high schools up to the Dept. of Education for the symposium, which is a half-hour uphill hike on muddy, disemboweled roads littered with construction equipment and workers who spend more of their time standing around harassing mud-splattered Americans than actually working. Other challenges include power that only comes on in four-hour shifts (because they don’t have the money to keep it on 24 hours a day); a bank that closes at 3pm on business days (no ATM, of course); and of course the general dirtiness and decrepit state of many of the island’s buildings. More than anything, the week made me a hundred times more thankful for the fact that I live on an island like Romanum: small and clean, with sand instead of mud, a close-knit community with kids who shout out “I love you” (even if they don’t know what that means) instead of “Can I have a dollar?” when I walk by, and no rolling blackouts because there’s no power to begin with, except for our generator which we only turn on after sunset. Life is simple. It’s the side of Chuuk that I love.
Anyway, about the symposium. Let me start by saying, to put it simply: Chuuk’s school system leaves a lot to be desired, on all levels. I’ve witnessed (and felt) a lot of frustration: directors and administrators frustrated with principals and teachers who seem apathetic towards their job; principals frustrated with the administration for not listening to their needs; teachers and faculty frustrated in general by understaffing, lack of resources, and the feeling that the DOE is often fighting against them instead of working with them; volunteers frustrated with, well, everything. And of course, the students are the ones who come out on the losing end.
There is change in the air, however. Chuuk’s DOE got a new director earlier this year, and she is hell-bent on whipping the school system back into shape. They’re pushing to get all schools in the state accredited, cracking down on teacher performance and accountability, and raising the standards for high school entrance exams, among other changes. There’s some concern that the new director is expecting too much too soon, that she’s demanding 110% when the system is barely pushing 50%. But it’s also just what Chuuk needs. I just suspect there’s going to be a lot of growing pains, especially in the upcoming year.
Most of the sessions and workshops held during the symposium focused on different aspects of how to bring the schools up to speed, from how to “unpack” the national curriculum standards to effective long-term planning and classroom management. I personally didn’t find most of it very helpful; a lot of it was stuff we’d covered in Peace Corps training. Not to mention the fact that I grew up in a school system that actually works (say what you will about the state of education in the US; spend a few months in Chuuk and you’ll never complain again). But hopefully it’ll be the start of better things to come.
So while the symposium wasn’t exactly thrilling, there was still a lot of fun in the week. All seven of the PCVs in Chuuk, including the outer islanders, were in for the symposium, and it’s always a treat to have the whole team together. Since this was most likely the last time all of us would be together before Ben and John, the two outgoing Volunteers, leave in December, we celebrated with a night at Blue Lagoon, one of the two hotels in Chuuk that cater mainly to diving enthusiasts who come for the world-class shipwreck diving. We got a couple rooms, treated ourselves to an overpriced meal in the restaurant, and had an overall good time. I was also reminded again what a blessing it is that we have such a close-knit group of Volunteers here, that we not just support each other as coworkers, but that we’re all real friends as well. This isn’t common, at least not based on what I’ve heard from friends doing Peace Corps in other countries. It’s one thing that makes me thankful to be in Chuuk, despite the challenges.
I’m back on Romanum now, and my energy is currently focused on preparing for the upcoming school year (which is supposed to start September 6th, assuming the school passes its sanitation inspection). I’m really excited for the new year; unfortunately, the past two days have been something of a planning nightmare. One of the requirements for accreditation, which the DOE is pushing for all schools, is that all students will receive between 5 and 6 hours of instruction every day. This is a challenge for many schools, including Romanum Elementary School, because of understaffing. Romanum has 8 grades and only 6 teachers (or 7, if you include me). In past years, they’ve solved the problem by having a split schedule: grades 1-3 coming in the morning, 4-5 in the afternoon, and 6-8 having a full day. Since this doesn’t meet the new standard, we’ve spent the past two days trying to work up a schedule that will allow all 8 grades to be in session for the full day. And what an ordeal it was. I wish I could have taken a picture of the various attempts we had mapped out on the chalkboard, so you could all see for yourselves what a colossal mess we had. It seemed to me that the only workable solution would be to combine two grades, but when I made that suggestion, none of the other teachers seemed very interested in the idea. In the end it was decided that for the time being we’d just stick with the same split schedule used last year, until another solution comes along. The only other solution I can imagine would be hiring at least one new teacher, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
Anyway, now that the scheduling nightmare has been put on the shelf for the time being, I’m ready to shift my attention to lesson-planning for my classes. I’m especially excited for 8th grade science, which I’ll be co-teaching with my host mom, Stella. Of course my main job is to teach English, and I’m looking forward to that as well, but it’ll be nice to have something different on my plate as well. My biggest goal for the year is to prepare the 8th graders to take the JHET (Junior High Entrance Test) in the spring. Students must pass the test to continue to high school. This past year’s test results were both disappointing and surprising (it definitely didn’t reflect how the kids actually did in school), so I’m determined to get this year’s 8th graders as well-prepared as I can.
Well, that’s the latest news from the education world in Chuuk. Like I said, lots of ups and downs, lefts and rights. It’s going to be an interesting year. Please keep us all in your prayers.
