08/05/10

Today we had sort of parent-teacher conferences, though the concept if very different from in America. We started about 1.5 hours late, naturally. First, everyone gathered where we gather each morning for announcements, and everyone sang the Mozambican Nation Anthem, then the Pedagogical Director addressed the parents, and then all the students, their parents (or their education undertaker…that doesn’t translate very well. This is sometimes an uncle, aunt or grandparent who is actually the child’s guardian, but on days like today, because the parent either cannot or doesn’t want to come, or perhaps has many more than one child in school, an older sibling or cousin will be sent with the student instead), and the directors of each homeroom went to their respective homerooms. This was when the homeroom director talks to the parents about “our” children (note: not “your” children), about how the year is going and if there are any issues for this homeroom. Nerve-wracking! I also lied and said that we had a good homeroom, rather than telling the parents that of the five classes I teach, this one is by far the worst and that this many undisciplined kids couldn’t have ended up together by coincidence, but that I think my school purposefully gave me this homeroom because I am a new teacher and a foreigner. Then the grades for each kid are given out, which is really the purpose of the day. Some teachers just read the students’ grades out loud, but I decided to be super-American and called each student and their parent up to the front to give at least a little privacy. This also gave me the opportunity to talk to the parents of students who were having problems. I thought one mother was going to hit her child right there in front of me when I told her that he didn’t have a grade for P.E. because he had never even showed up once. One student in particular cannot even read or write very well, isn’t very good about doing his homework or showing up to class, and also did not have a grade for P.E. because he had never showed up, so I talked to his mom about all of this. She also looked like she wanted to hit him, but explained that she had no idea because she lives far away and he lives here near the school by himself (one of the problems with only having two secondary schools in the entire Inharrime district). I told her that I would have some extra study sessions with him outside school, primarily to work on this reading and writing.
Afterward one of my colleagues beckoned to me and said, “have you talked to your student yet?” “No why?” “Because she is pregnant.” I was shocked and asked how she knew and she responded “I just know these things.” So she called over this student (14 years old) and talked to her and her mother. Her mother didn’t seem altogether with it and didn’t speak much Portuguese so they held the conversation in Txitxopi. She hadn’t known, but in her defense she lives about two hours away and her daughter lives here near the school alone. My student will have to turn her name in to the office on Monday to be transferred to the other secondary school. The rule at my school (and I know this is normal, if not the country standard) is that pregnant students have to withdraw from normal school and can only attend night classes. And since my school doesn’t offer night classes, this means transferring to the night classes at the other school.