Schools out. What’s in?

20.JUL.07

Thousands of our young students and pupils are now savouring their annual long vacation break over the July-August period. For them it is a most welcome relief after a year of hard work and study culminating in the pressurised final examinations. Such is the intensity of these final exams that even the infants of today feel the pressure, not to mention those who sit either the Common Entrance or CXC exams.{{more}}

For parents though, especially those with children at the primary level, the perspective is somewhat different for they have to cope with children freed of school responsibilities over an eight week period. Working parents face even greater problems in making proper arrangements for the care and safety of their children while they are away at work. Uneasy is the head coping with the job and at the same time worrying what the three children, ranging in age from six to eleven are doing back at home.

The problem is that as a society we have not yet been able to make adequate provisions for the ‘schools out’ period. So we have a long period with not enough for our youth to do, a sure invitation for trouble in one form or another. Fortunately, a number of organizations have been organizing activities to fill the gap, but laudable as these are, they still fall far short of what is necessary. This is particularly so in the rural areas.

A much more comprehensive approach is necessary to tackle this growing problem. For one, there is the need to address the lack of recreational and out-of-school educational facilities. It is no secret that ours is a country which for a long time has not been able to comprehend that the provision of recreational facilities for children is critical to the development process. For years we built schools without playgrounds and today there is not a single park or playground of any significance for the nation’s children. Similarly, those organizations which valiantly try to organise camps for the vacation, are constrained by the lack of proper camp sites and related facilities. Surely this is an area which needs urgent redress.

Naturally the government must take the lead in addressing this situation but let us not absolve ourselves from responsibility by pointing to ‘the government’ alone. We, too, as citizens, have a duty in this regard. The private sector in particular can play a major role in providing sponsorship for such vacation activities. In fact some firms have already embarked on that course. They are to be lauded and others encouraged to come on board. Government also can assist in facilitating this by providing incentives for such sponsorship or for private sector investment in recreational and educational facilities.

A major role can also be played by civil society organizations. Thus far, churches and various social organizations have been in the forefront. They are in need or not just financial and infrastructural support but human resource personnel as well. They need VOLUNTEERS. We can all contribute to this effort; a little bit of our time will collectively go along way. We cannot afford to let the void expand further, when ‘Schools Outs’ we must provide a positive ‘IN’.