Episode 21
The Scholarship
[RECAP : Dzifa and her friends were impregnated by their boyfriends who were teachers in the same school. In their attempt to abort their pregnancies ,three of the girls died.The teachers were found guilty, dismissed, arraigned before court and sentenced to a prison sentence]
[Millson’s Point Of View ]
I was in the classroom one day teaching when the headmistress called me. I was quite nervous. I asked myself,â What have I done?â
I hope no student went and lied against me again that I have proposed to her or sexually abuse her. From my experiences in that school, I donât trust those teenage girls. They were very adventurous.
After much deliberations, I encouraged myself that since I havenât done anything wrong, there was no need for me to fear.
The rest of the lesson was jittery as I was anxious to finish the lesson early and see the headmistress.
After the class
I went to see the headmistress. In the headmistressâ office , I saw Miss Bansah sitting on a couch.
My mind went blank. Is the headmistress going to scold me for befriending Miss Bansah?â
Madam Celestine, the head
mistress welcome us heartily,
âYou are welcome ,Mr.Lamptey Millson and Miss Bansah Lovelace.
â Thank you, madam, we said in unison.
I have some news for you.â Said the headmistress.
My facial expression changed a bit. The headmistress realised I was nervous and assured me,
âDonât worry,itâs a good news. A very good news.
At once,I relaxed. She then gave us the details .â About three days ago, we receive a call from the Canadian Embassy. The ambassador wants to give scholarships to two hard-working,energetic and pacesetter teachers who live by example.
The critria for choosing the teachers was not left to the discretion of the school head but in the hands of the students. Students were asked to vote to determine who they perceive to be the most-hard-working and morally astute teacher in the school. The students voted anonymously,citing reasons for their votes. It turned out that you have garner 55% of the vote,Followed by Miss Bansah who had 40% of the vote. Mr. Edward Morley had 5 % of the vote.
So Congratulations ! Both of you,You have won a scholarship to Cananda to further your education.â
{Third Person Narration }
When the headmistress brought the forms to the students to fill to assess the quality of the teachers in order to select the appropriate teachers who qualify for the ROLE MODEL TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP ,
Dzifa knew before hand Mr.Millson and miss Bansah were going to receive massive votes and support from the student body. Even a blind student knew Mr. Millson. Sir Millson epitomized who an ideal professional trained graduate teacher should be. In addition to that,he was also a staunch Christian who never hesitated to preach the gospel to the students.
The truth about students is that even though they never like to admit It,they always wish their teachers should be very good models for them to emulate instead of the âplay typesâ of teachers who behave like them.
Though on the face value,they are seen praising the âjoker or â funny teachersâ they knew deep in their hearts that they were not living up to their professional expectations.
It therefore didnât come as a surprise to her when teachers who are seen to be liked by students scored very low marks and Sir Millson scored more than 50% of the overall assessment followed by miss Bansah though most students donât seemed to like them. There was a basic underlining reason for Sir Millsonâs success.
Almost all the teachers(90 %) selected for the prestigious scholarship were immoral. They flirt with female students and thus couldnât possible be seen as a good role model deserving such laurels. The more a teacher get notoriety for chasing female students,the lower his marks thus disqualifying him from the ROLE MODEL TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP.
On a more serious note, even a bad student wouldnât want to vote for a teacher who is a bad influence on them to receive A ROLE MODEL TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP when she knew very well itâs only two teachers who deserved it in our school-Mr. Lamptey Millson and Miss Bansah Lovelace.
The case is close.
[Millsonâs Point of view]
Our joy rose beyond comparison.
Is it really true that soon we will be airborne to Canada. It looked more like a dream to me. Tell me Iâm dreaming.
I was busy making series of preparations towards the great journey which was there days ahead. It looked as if time has suddenly became very short for me. Then I heard a knock on my door. Surely, that must be my dear friend Miss Bansah. Without much thought, I said, â come in dear.â
The she came in but it wasnât the
â sheâ I was looking out for.
âDzifa!!!â
She said, âYes Sirâ
There was an uneasy silence between us.
âSir,I know you are surprise to see me. I just want to apologize to you for the way I disturbed you ever since you set your feet in this school. I know I have put a lot of pressure on you luring you to ârockâ me but you knew exactly what you stood for. You tried to advice me but I was adamant.
Now,I have learnt lifeâs lessons the hard way and I promise to turn on a new leaf. Sir,on a more serious note, If we have just 30% of teachers in this school like you,Tutukpene Secondary School would have been a better school but sadly the school have not been firm on teacher- student romantic relationship and that has resulted in teachers dating and mating us for free. In all honesty, most of the faults came from us, the teenage girls. We lure the charming young teachers when we have a crush on them. We often use it to boast in our dormitories as to whoâs more romantic, whoâs hot in bed and whoâs not. You know itâs a girlsâ thing. Girlsâ talk.
I just want to say,keep up the good work and always be the iconic teacher I know you to be.
When you travel to Canada,always remember me, not as a spoilt girl but as a girl who have changed.
Are these words really coming from Dzifa. Is this another trap?
Readers, help me.
Finally, I said,âHmmm. I hear.â
Suddenly, Dzifa began to cry. She sobbed so heavily that I was moved to tears myself but I controlled my emotion.
For the first time, I did something I never did with Dzifa before. I opened my arms and asked her to give me a hug. She was quite hesitant but after much encourage
ment, she rushed into my arms. She hugged me so tightly that I could feel the softness of her boobs on my chest.
I politely disengaged myself from her. She didnât insist. She merely looked at me but still carrying the melancholic look.I asked her , âwhat is wrong, Dzifa?â
â Hmmm, errrr. During my abortion , my womb got damaged.â She said.
âWhat ?â I was surprised.
âYes, Itâs true sir. Your fake friend Kwame got me pregnant and gave me that concoction which eventually damaged my womb. The Doctor said the herbs has a highly toxic substance in it which perforated my womb. ..â
âIâm sorry Dzifaâ
âDonât be. I caused it.â
I think itâs time to leave .Until I see you again,itâs bye for now, sir.â
I was awestruck but highly impressed by Dzifaâs sign of maturity. I thanked her for showing remorse and I forgave her for all the troubles and she had caused me. I promise her I wonât forget her and we will talk regularly when I travel.
Two Days Later
Lovelace and I arrived at the Kotoka International Airport in time to check in. Indeed Accraâs new Kotoka airport is an impressive facility. Its sophisticated, futuristic look and modern trappings with its plush business lounges, retail spaces and state-of-the-art equipment are the equal of any airport in the world, JFK, Heathrow or Schipol included.
The new Kotoka Terminal 3, not surprisingly, bears much of the hallmarks and the finest qualities of ACSAâs or Tambo International Airport, Cape Town International Airport and King Shaka International Airport in some of South Africaâs major cities.
Kotoka International Airport is a product of truly breathtaking global class. I learnt that at its height Terminal 3 will be able to handle 5 million passengers a year, with the capacity of handling 1 250 passengers an hour.
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