By John Ojoagbene
It is one thing that the educational system in Nigeria is not as favorable as it should be, and it is much more demanding to trace out the root factors that are acting against the system. As much as many factors could be responsible for the epileptic state of the system, there is a need for us to look inward at one of the leading factors that is capable of prolonging this unfavorable state.
Charity, they say begins at home. Everything that is good in the society rises and fails on good parenting and guidance. Nothing will work in the society nor in the educational system if the issue of the home is relegated to the background. If the role of parenting is tampered with or undermined in the life of a child, it is a question of time, it will negatively affect every aspect the child in the course of his journey towards life fulfilment.
It is the duty of every parent to train not just teach each of his or her children the way he is to go, and when such child is grown, or he/she develops towards adulthood, he or she will not depart from it. But due to the corruption that has not just eaten up into every nook and cranny of the society, but also our human sense of priorities, many and not a few, have left our core responsibility in raising functional children to the care of teachers and nannies — without a careful thought that even most of the teachers and nannies we have trust in so much are also products of dysfunctional homes.
Regardless of the name anyone is called, it is impossible for anyone to give what he or she has never been given. It is possible that some teachers might have read a lot of principles on good parenting in the course of academic work, but head knowledge is not equivalent to life experiences which will make the transfer of meaningful impact to school children whose parents have denied training from home also impossible.
And at the end, the problem of education in the country will move from that of lack of sufficient facilities, strike actions, insufficient teachers, insufficient class rooms, insufficient trained personnel, misappropriation of funds, lack of educational materials for both teachers and students, to issues like social issues, delinquencies, exam-malpractices, disrespect for teachers, life and proprieties, vandalizations of school facilities, cultism, fighting, mass failure in exam, and so on. If nothing is done to correct, cure, or improve the state of the home, the educational system of the country might make no significant progress.
The government can only do her part, there is no way she can do the duties of parents in impacting good morals, value, discipline, respect, focus, ambitions, and every other element of good parenting to every school child. It is either these are done by parents or they will remain as challenges and setbacks to the growth and development of the sector in the country.
To all parents and potential parents, the destiny of every child that is released to our care depends on good parenting and effective guidance. The failure of any child is more of the parents’ fault than it is of the teachers. Everything being equal, parents also enjoy the credit of their children’s performance in the society, not the teachers. Shifting our roles of functional upbringing of our children to others is a denial of our core responsibility to our nation, and to our generation.
Arise to your call, let’s rise to build the nation by doing our parts as parents or potential parents. Change is accumulative, when you do your part, and the next person does his or her part, common progress will be achieved for all. Do your part today, let each of us do his or her part to rebuild our educational system — our gift for the next generation.
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Tags: #children #Education #generation #government #guidance #Nigeria #parenting #responsibilities #roles #schools #solution #system #Teachers #training