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42— Vanguard, THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2018
Are parents not
abusing long
vacation?
By Elizabeth Uwandu
BARELY two weeks after the
close of third term and the
ushering in of long vacation,
children are seen back at schools
all in the name of summer lesson.
According to popular believe,
tlong vacation often called long
vac., or summer break require the
tclosure of schools to allow pupils
trest from the rigours of academic
activities. Wikipaedia noted that
School holidays (also referred to
as vacations, breaks, and
recess) are periods during which
schools are closed or no classes
are held.
Just as the holidays have began
to last eight(8)weeks, with private
schools having vacated on July
16 th to resume by September 13 th,
.and public schools which
vacated on July 10 th to resume
on September 13 th ; some
stakeholders are raising the
question, “ Are parents not
abusing the notion of long
vacation when their wards spend
only two weeks with them and the
rest of period of the holiday back
are spent at school? While some
parents are of the notion that long
vacation entail the period pupils
rest from formal academic setting
and bond more with their parents,
others are of the opinion that
keeping children at home for such
a long period without engaging
them in summer coaching or
lesson make these young chaps
retrogressive, dull and inactive.
Long vacation is for rest, bond
with their parents
For Mrs Adenike Adegoke, an
Early Child Specialist, the third
term holiday ought to be a period
for children to rest , have free time
to play and develop their sense
of wonder and creativity.
According the child specialist, it
was unfair that parents who
needed to spend quality time with
their wards see them as nuisance
and distraction. Her words, We
have to be careful our kids don’t
burnout to be something else at
tender age. They do require some
rest from a formalized setting,they
need free time to play in order to
develop their sense of wonder and
creativity
Conitinuing, Mrs Adegoke
asked that “Are we really being
fair with our children? It seems
that we are indirectly
implying,the children are a
nuisance and distraction. And we
are more inclined to get rid of then
round the house than having
them around us and nuturing
them.” said Mrs Adegoke.
Corrolaboating Adegoke claim,
Mrs Olubanke Ohunenese, a
child advoacte allowing the
children off school would
rejuvenate them and improve
their creative ideas. “ If only
vacation could be made to mean
what it is intended to be! Rest,
rest, rest! Then we could be
rejuvenated, become refreshed
and develop creative ideas for a
new season. “ Ohunenese
added.
The holiday is too long,
children need to be engaged
For some parents, holiday
lesson should be encouraged
since it is not modelled to a
conventional or formal learning
environment , but an avenue to
engage the children and help
them explore their inner
strengths.
Advocating that pupils and
students should be encouraged to
attend holiday coaching, Mrs Halita
Raje, a parents noted that since the
holiday was a long one, children
should go for lessons to keep their
brain and mind refreshed.
“ The holiday is too long, one time
I kept my children at home for the
long break when school resumed it
was tug of war sas they eemed to
have forgotten all about school. So
holiday school they will go. Its not
conventional learning like school
session and they close earlier than
normal school hours “ suggested,
Mrs Raje.
Mrs Damilola Oloyede Olujide-
Ojo, Director, The Jewel
Childminders, Strategist, Thinktank
explained that despite the fact that
children needed rest, they should
be placed on coaching
programmes . Her words, “ Kids
need rest agreed. However,
career clashes with motherhood
on many fronts. So, schools most
Investment in teachers training would tackle deficit — Koiki
By Dayo Adesulu
Executive Director, Greensprings
Schools, Mrs Lai Koiki has called
for training and retraining of teachers
to boost the dearth of teachers in the
sector, adding that continuous
investment by private sector in teacher
capacity development will tackle the
challenges.
She said: ‘’Continuous investment by
private sector in teacher capacity
development will tackle the challenges
that high need schools face and
unshackle them to contribute to
economic development.’’
According to her, if managers of the
economy understand what good
education could do for an individual
and the nation in general, Nigerians
should be worried about the state of
education in Nigeria.
Speaking after an interactive session
with a team from Teach for Nigeria in
often than not are the
best places to leave
children. Since. summer
programs are not
regimented classroom
methods. Children get to
learn crafts and acquire
skills in non-academic
areas.” suggested Mrs
Olujide-Ojo.
On his part, Godwin
Wecoch, Director
Godwin Wecoch schools,
observed that summer
holiday coaching was
fun for children as it
increased their levels of
skills. “ Most Summer
holiday coaching is fun
for children because it’s
not just classroom
learning. The children learn
other skills in addition. In my
school entrepreneurship are also
developed .that my children look
forward to it every year. And
beside children are on hollidays
L o n g
vacation is
for children
to rest, bond
with their
parents
for 7-8weeks and just 4 or 5 weeks
are for Summer school. “
Economic reality responsible
for long vacation coashing,
however, it is optional
Reacting to whether parents
were abusing their children or
not by registering them for an
holiday lesson , Mrs Elizabeth
Akpan pointed out although it
was a good idea parents and
children spend the holidays
together. However, the economic
reality where both parents are
looking for livelihood make the
notion of parents and children
spending timeduring the
holidays not feasible.
“ The way the world is now, with
both parents working fulltime, its
better they are back in school being
positively engaged.Things are so
bad, that now, we can’t trust our
kids with our maids, neighbours,
friends, etc. You can’t just leave your
child in the hands of an uncle or
aunty. The school environment
seems to be safest. Another way to
keep the children safe during this
period is when your church has
youth retreat or youth camp that’s
heavily supervised where the
children can , that’s another good
one. “
For Mr Etti Ibukun, “ Allowing
your kids to attend lesson during
holiday or not depends on
individual. If you don’t want your
kids to go back to school for summer
coaching then you must be ready
to engage them at least one hour
daily to prepare them for the next
session. Why wouldn’t you want
them to go for summer. Summer is
not meant for only class room
teaching but other mental and
creative activities that iare meant
to increase students. skills ?
The real meaning of long
vacation
Speaking on the true essence of
long break, Mr Adeola Morotito,
Director, Pen Talkers said that the
Lagos, Koiki said partnering with the
Teach for Nigeria initiative is targeted
at up-scaling teacher capacity which is
the engine room of human capital
development aimed at economic
growth.
She further said that the management
of the school will continue to impact the
teaching profession because the vision
of the school is to reach all the children
in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, Folawe Omikunle, chief
executive officer, Teach for Nigeria while
speaking about the initiative said the
organisation adapted an approach
where outstanding individuals are
recruited and trained over a period of
time, then are place to teach in high
need schools.
She said: “Last year, we placed 45
outstanding individuals in 25 schools
across Lagos and Ogun States. They
have being teaching and impacting
Cross section of pupils in class during holiday.
holiday period should not
necessarily be time to stress the
children, but to encourage
adequate rest, visits, bonding
among their loved ones, including
learning vocational skills.
The motivational speaker
however called against the use of
the word “ summer” as it do not
relate to our reality. “ I have been
lsurpriesd that we use the term
summe in Nigeria when we do
not have summer in Nigeria! We
don’t have to use a concept the way
that do not relate to our realities.
.
“The long vacation is a time to
rest. However we can engage them
in other activities that are less
tasking as academics. This is the
time to visit the family (travel to
know places and people), time to
acquire skills in some vocational
stuffs, time to learn board games
like chess, scrabble, etc, time to even
go for internships (for those in
secondary schools), time to learn
new things - music, sport, etc. We
believe too much in book
knowledge in Nigeria. Let us use
this time to connect with them
while also allowing them to rest
and do something about their
interests and passion. “ said
Morotito
academic achievement, aspirations,
attitude across the schools they are
in. right now they are impacting 2,700
pupils and this year, we are looking
to scale and expand the numbers”.
Omikunle said the organisation has
selected 205 fellows who are
undergoing training at Greensprings
schools which is the most valuable
partner that they have locally.
“After the training, we are going to
be placing them across three states. We
will be placing 105 fellows in Kaduna
State, while the remaining 100 will be
place across Lagos and Ogun States.
He, however lauded the effort of
Greensprings School who she
described as their platinum partner that
provides the facility use in training the
teachers.
He pointed out that there would have
been no way their organisation would
have been able to come thus far without
the support of the school.