The Sunday News
Charles Dube
THERE were a number of points raised last week which I felt parents or guardians and learners want to hear. The list could not be exhausted in one segment hence more will be given again today. However, the gist of the matter today is on the issue of schools withholding learners’ results on the basis of non-payment of school fees.
Before coming to that, learners should be curious. A curious learner wants to learn about all kinds of things, enjoy life more as to realise that there is so much beauty in the world around us. Research shows that 90 percent of success is doing what others are unwilling to do. Most learners are unwilling to do the extra assignment, proofread the essay furthermore. To be successful, you must learn how to deal with negative emotions.
When you are feeling frustrated, angry, disappointed or sad, you are more likely to make bad decisions. You cannot avoid all negative emotions, but you can learn to manage them so that they do not derail you. Attitude matters more than intelligence or talent. Start cultivating a positive and resilient attitude today. For example, there are disturbing attitudes in our youth today. Most are jobless, which is a fact but there are organisations which move around trying to empower them with various skills for use on improving themselves.
These projects are done through correspondence where learners are provided with modules to read through, thereafter go out into the field to apply what they have read. This is done for free. There is low uptake in such projects because the target group is uninterested. The question is: “How much are we going to be paid in that project?” This is disappointing to hear someone expecting something to be pain in order to attain a skill which will improve his life forever more.
The advice we can give to learners with such reluctance is to take up such progressive projects without question. Stop the blame game. On this side of the country such projects are not taken seriously because most youth believe that there are greener pastures across the border. Young girls see no future in education hence drop out of school. This is because as a society we are still following the harmful norms.
We still have communities where the girl child is removed from school maybe after going through Grade Seven because she is considered educated enough and is capable to communicate with her husband who might marry her at any time. Interrogating the theme, highway to success, how can learners aim for success when the conditions are not conducive? There has been an outcry over schools withholding learners’ results over non-payment of fees. This is very negative and punishment is placed on people who have not committed a crime.
Are the children to blame for being born? Many learners have dropped out of school because their results have been withheld at their schools. It is not all who can run around and get the money to have their results released so as to proceed with their education. Reality on the ground show that most of these children are orphans and live with grannies who cannot afford a even a meal. So to withhold results for such children is promoting a harmful norm which should be stop.
If it is the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education which enforces such policies then it must revise such a stance as it promotes a harmful norm.
This leads to many school drop-outs who become a nuisance in the communities they live in. As stated earlier, boys get into drug abuse while girls get into prostitution at an early age. One hopes the new dispensation will interrogate this and come up with the best solution. Children cannot be punished for crimes they did not commit.
Maybe to add on to problems created by harmful norms we have cultivated, in the past local authorities or councils used to have vibrant entertainment places in suburbs. There were youth clubs offering various forms of games such as football, netball, tennis and halls where children used to watch films from, being kept away from engaging in dangerous and criminal activities. But nowadays the same local authorities have abdicated their duties and neglected all this hence promoting harmful norms.
Talking about harmful norms does not only apply to children abusing drugs or engaging in prostitution only, it also includes having a policy which denies learners their right to learn. Linked to issues raised already, there is another element which is quite disturbing, that of illegal schools.
Organisations interested in the rights of children feel such schools are violating the rights of children in many ways basing it on the United Nations convention.
In short, these organisations say these illegal schools are interested in making money rather than education and developing a child, thus they feel this has to come to an end as a matter of urgency as they do not have the interest of the future generation at heart. There is quality compromise in most of these illegal schools as demonstrated by the fact that most of them are operating from homes, churches and old beer hall buildings and undesirable structures where there are no toilets.
This is just a summary of harmful norms which we have accepted, maybe out of ignorance. More will follow. I know somebody out there might feel threatened and claim that people operating such schools are doing it out of desperation and openly raising income to sustain their families. It is true, but formalise your school.
For views link up with [email protected] or sms to 0772113207.
