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From Learning Under Mango Trees to Sitting on Bare Floors: 15 Years of Imo’s Public School Struggles

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  By Blessing Iriaka I know that public schools in Nigeria, especially in my home state of Imo, have struggled with structural problems for years. I know because I went to one. There were days during my secondary school years when my classmates and I had to learn under mango trees because there were not enough classrooms for everyone. I remember spending almost two weeks learning under different trees in our school compound because, strangely enough, the shade from the trees felt better than the classrooms we had to share with other classes. But that was years ago. I honestly thought that by 2025, we would have moved past some of these problems. I thought things would be better for the children coming after us. Then, during one of my community engagements, I visited a primary school in Amaimo Community, Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State. What I saw left me speechless. We did not announce our arrival to the teachers. Perhaps if we had, they would have had time to ar...