Graduation is a time of celebration that marks the end of one phase and beginning of the next phase. It is a very proud moment for the graduates, parents and teachers who have all played their part in the end result.
It may be boring to talk or write about the graduations that have been going on, mainly between October and December this year, and expected to continue in many years to come!, but the recent SOS Children Village-Zanzibar graduation was one to remember.
It became the subject of discussions throughout the day. It was a combination of graduation for Form Four, Standard Six and Standard Seven students. “We are proud of our achievement in education.
Our school remains one of the leading with good performance. It is unfortunate however, that moral decay among student is high,” Mr Kheir Abubakar Salim, Principal, SOS children village school said.
He told the gathering that teachers have played their part to help students by encouraging and motivating them to perform at the optimum and achieve the end result, and likewise parents made many sacrifices providing their children with the enabling environment at home, financial, and moral support, bad behaviour is still a thorny issue.
Arguably, he said some parents have been undermining teachers’ efforts to improve children’s behaviour by setting a bad example, and increasingly creating conflicts the with teachers over what constitutes to good behaviour. He said nurturing and parenting in schools has become the most challenging work ever because of some parents’ negligence.
They buy children smart phones, a tool that drives them to bad behaviour and also allows them to watch movies/drama with sexual elements. It was also revealed that many parents are opposed to have their children disciplined (even if it is a non violent punishment) and tell children that if they have been hit by a teacher or another pupil in the playground, they should ‘hit back!’
In the wake of growing complaints about behaviour deterioration, a big number of irresponsible parents today are clearly responsible for the moral dissipation that are common among children and teenagers in Tanzania and across the globe.
Activists, some responsible parents, religious leaders and lawmakers, whenever they meet nowadays decry bad behaviours in schools and society, as they talk about the good old days when children were brought up with sound moral and ethical sanctity.
Some researchers and analysts ask as to ‘why parents who were privileged to have received such quality upbringing in times past are the ones bringing up ‘useless, irresponsible and morally decadent children with little or no regard to societal norms and values?’
They observe that there is something seriously wrong and parents should take the blame for these shameful and troubling failures and that that parents’ not spending enough time with their children, due to the busy lifestyles, is another major issue.
Analysts also say “Parents are also blamed to have developed all manner of excuses to justify their negligence of this noble duty of good parenting, all to the detriment of the children who are now growing into ‘monsters and deviant social misfit.
” Parents are supposed to be close to the children and should become the child’s idols, best friends, and motivators who can implant moral principles in children thus producing a first-class society with successful adolescences.
Besides parents’ irresponsibility, other factors such as mass media influence, ineffective educational system, and less futile actions by the government should also be weighed as contributors to moral decay, according to some arguments.
The teachers at SOS mentioned that television, social media and internet to have been promoting bad behaviours as it frequently shows violence, movies with sexual actions which contribute in shaping children personalities, values and beliefs in wrong direction; as a result, the youngster adopts bad conduct.
For the government, authorities have not taken serious measures against media operators who publish indecent action in their publication.
The government is to ensure that only acceptable and appropriate type of broadcasting televised or published, and eventually reduces the stress of moral decay.
The guest of honour at the graduation ceremony, Mr Rashid Ali Juma-Minister of Information, Tourism, Culture and Sports commended the SOS management for its efforts in shaping children to become good citizens and work hard to their future. He said the issue of the moral decay is a challenge and he supports the initiatives being taken by the school including prohibiting smarts phones and that parents should also back the move by not giving students phones while still in schools.
“This is one of the most memorable graduations because things shared here meant a lot to our development and the future of our children.
Let us parents show commitment and take our role of parenting,” Mr Juma said adding that our future professional should also have good conduct. SOS children Village- Zanzibar board of trustees Chairman Mr Mohamed Bhalo said despite some challenges like rising operating costs facing the village, it has been going on well helping many vulnerable children in the islands. “Thanks to parents, teachers and development partners for supporting the village/ school.
The children we care for continue to be happy, as they get basic needs, better education, and acceptable care,” Mr Bhalo said. He said more than onethousand children have also been helped through the outreach program-‘family strengthening’, were families are supported to get education, health, and entrepreneurship to generate income.
SOS Children’s Villages first began its work in Tanzania in 1995 on the island of Zanzibar, expanding its activities to Family Strengthening Programme (FSP) which focuses on alleviating hardship in the local community by providing a number of services.
The SOS helps parents send their children to school by paying school fees and providing school uniforms as well as help with homework, and ensure that families have enough to eat by giving food packages to those who need them, targeting child-headed households or those affected by HIV/AIDS.
In cooperation with partner organisations, SOS also help parents improve their situation in a sustainable manner by offering them vocational training courses and micro-credits to start up their own business and also through its Medical Centre in Zanzibar provides basic health care to the local community.
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