Holiday hustle: why Nigerian students can’t catch a break

BY ADEKOLA ZINATULLAH

In a season traditionally meant for rest, many Nigerian students are still seated behind desks, attending summer classes instead of enjoying their holiday.

This article explores the economic pressures and parental concerns driving the trend, revealing a complex issue where survival, sanity, and social pressure collide, often at the expense of a child’s much-needed rest.

For Teachers, It’s About Survival

For private school teachers like Mrs. Tayo in Lagos, holiday lessons are less about choice and more about necessity. “It’s not that we enjoy teaching during holidays,” she told this reporter, “but private school teachers like me don’t get paid during the long break. So, many schools organize lessons just so we can keep earning something.” Without this income, many teachers worry about how they’ll manage expenses and even afford transport to return to work when the new term begins.

This sentiment is echoed by Mr. Joseph in Ibadan. “Our salaries are already small. Once school ends for the term, that’s the end of our pay. Summer lessons help us manage financially. That’s the honest truth.”

For Parents, It’s About Peace

The reasons parents enroll their children often have little to do with academics. “My kids just disturb too much at home,” confessed Mrs. Onome, a mother of four. “I can’t concentrate on anything. Once they finish eating, they’re already fighting or scattering the house. I had no choice but to put them in holiday school.”

Other parents, like Mr. Kazeem in Ogun State, feel they are simply choosing the path of least resistance. “They’ll be pressing phone or running around. The house is noisy from morning till night. It’s easier to just let them go for lessons, at least I get peace till afternoon.”

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Beyond the need for a quiet home, a sense of social pressure also plays a role. As one parent put it, “If I leave my son at home and his classmates go for lessons, won’t he be behind when school resumes? That’s why I had to pay, even though things are tight.”

But What About the Kids?

While the adults justify their reasons, the students themselves seem less than enthusiastic. A JSS 3 student lamented, “We just finished exams last week, and now we’re back in class. I’m tired. It doesn’t even feel like holiday again.” This fatigue highlights a growing concern about student burnout, as a child’s education becomes an endless cycle with no breathing space for rest, play, or personal growth.

The holiday hustle, it seems, is a symptom of a larger issue where the well-being of the student is often an unintended casualty of the economic and social realities of the adults around them.