If there was something that was like precious stones in south west of Nigeria, it is something called education đ. Nothing else matters. If you have have a hint of being educational inclined, you better not bother about anything else. Just focus on your books. Sports â˝ď¸, music đˇ, vocational jobs were not encouraged or blocked where required. As young as 9 years old, kids start getting extra lessons. Nowadays, it seems it starts at 3 years old but there has been a slight change to other fields. Exams to Federal government colleges are pushed and you not getting in looked like a taboo or incapable of mixing it with the best. Rarely do you get recognised if you are in a local school unless you go to flagship schools like ACA đ. But the biggest driver after secondary school was which university you went to and what course you study.
The way higher education places and courses were offered can be considered warped and is still warped. It was like if you failed to enter at a certain level, step down to the next as it was a downgrade instead of each institution to be supportive and encourage students based on what it offers. It took the creation of some Federal university of Technologies to break the mould but it actually created a different tier. Courses like Medicine, law, pharmacy and Engineering were at the top of the chain whilst others were pushed into the so called tiers below them... Incredible đ¤... Anyway, I digress...
Once you are getting ready for University, you had to have 5 subjects ( nobody cares how certificates were combined đ) in your WAEC/WASC/GCE and the right cut off score in your Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB) to get in your desired course. No certificate; forget it , especially in English đĽş. However, with your JAMB , it is a slippery slope. Donât make the cut off, you start looking for the next best course until you find your level until you get a course or try the next year... Again, I digress ...
So, there is a push for students to start looking at GCE and preps for JAMB early. From SS1, students start to prepare. Looking for options, some read at home with the syllabus next to their beds. Some just read, knowing that they need to cover areas. However, there was another route. Taking extra classes after school. It started to filter that people were doing this and the best place to go during school term was Salas. Salas was after school extra curricular class in a building and he was reputed to be good at teaching science subjects and get people through to university. He started with a few kids but based on his success, people started turning up and his initial class of 10-15 students became 3 different classes.
However, if it was just education, I will not be writing this blog đ. In as much as the education was important, it also become an avenue to meet friends and friends of the opposite sex. What more turns a guy on when they see a beautiful girl and then finds out she is also brilliant? NOTHINGđ đž! But it is only the intellectual that thinks that way đ. Most boys were turning up to meet girls. Period đ! Girls also were enrolling with the same agenda. Salas was strict but he can only monitor so much and mainly on his premises. Once we are leaving around 6pm, many had shady ideas happened in the dark. Okunkun o meni owo â¤ď¸âđĽ.
Boys and girls were equally dating and studying, people were coming to class with strategies on where to sit.Salas changed the rule to keep boys snd girls apart. Despite all that, guys still found ways to mix in and after class, relationships were forged, enemies were made, fights ensued and love was always in the air. Salas was the place to be. He did help a lot of the student to achieve their goals - GCE results before their final exams and a few got into Uni university before finishing secondary school. A few were expelled (imagine from an after school lesson đĄ!) and others, it was by and by. The fad soon faded and people drifted to SEC, FUTA and others, the state library to study and for the other escapades đ in the coming years.
Salas prep classes - the home of study and the ground also to learn to speak to girls ; for those who had the courage.
This piece is written in the memory of Kwakye Okyere Daddy AKA Salas (1954-2021).
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