Saturday, April 12, 2014

Prejudice

 Back home in Nigeria, I remember there are schools for the rich and schools for the poor. If a family is poor, it might be impossible for their children to attend schools with rich children. Most privately owned schools are dominated by rich families.

There is this particular school that is known for affluence because, of the category of people in attendance. During a discussion amongst some mothers, a middle class mother asked what the performance of the school is, in order to enrol her son. In that process, another mother asked, ''are you sure you will be able to pay the school fees?'' This came to mind as I meditated on classism. The woman who asked this question already has prejudice against the other because, she felt her friend will not be able to pay the school fees. The school in question has consciously or unconsciously built a class for herself. It simply means poor children cannot attend such schools as they are not affordable.

If I were given the opportunity to be a policy maker in Nigeria, I will make sure school fees are well-regulated, and scholarships are provided for the very poor children.

1 comment:

  1. It is hard to read about places where children are not able to get proper education because they don't have the money to pay for it. In Ohio we not have the EdChoice program which allows parents of children in failing schools to choose a private school for their child. The problem is that their are many private schools who do not accept EdChoice and many parents who do not know about the program.

    ReplyDelete