By Amanatullah Yusuf
It was early Monday morning. Mrs Titiloye Gloria Oluwapelumi hurriedly prepared the breakfast and dressed up her one-year-old baby as she rushed to catch up her 8: 00 am class.
The Higher National Diploma(HND) 1 student of Mass Communication at Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin wished to concentrate on the lecture — perhaps she didn’t come late to the class that day because her baby was friendly in the morning.
However, as the lecture continued, the baby started crying and the noise caught the attention of the lecturer. The lecturer let it go at that moment. But minutes later, she could not control the cry of the baby which had distracted the whole class.
The lecturer could not bear it this time around. He had to send them out.
“Sometimes, I used to miss classes because the baby is ill. In fact, I hardly concentrate while the lecture is ongoing and I could not keep the baby at home.”
Balancing higher education with a motherly role has continued to be an incubus for many student-mothers.
Family support, work, commitment and feelings of guilt can impact on how mothers carve out time and space for family roles and their studies. The main challenge is lack of time to manage studying and parenting roles.
Just like Mrs Titiloye, Fatima Ahmad is another student who has been struggling to create balance between her studies and motherly role.
The 400-level student of Education Biology at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto said hardly has time for herself to read.
“I can’t sleep without him being asleep and has to be awake when he is. And coupled with the fact that I get to read when he’s asleep, it cuts down on my sleep. I take a break when my friend or hostel mates take him with them.”
Ariyo Ibukun Oluwayemisi on her part said:
“I used to screenshot my notes to write at a later time.”