Every nation needs to train, educate and prepare its children for the future. This is done through giving them all the necessary skills to survive in this world. If the children of a nation are well educated and given the training they need to succeed, that nation will certainly succeed.
A critical component of that training is the instilling of discipline and good manners in them. If that is lacking, then all their learning and skills will be of little or no value to them at the end of the day.
Of late, it has been observed that there are many disciplinary problems in our school system. The duty of bringing up children and instilling discipline in them should not be left in the hands of the school authorities alone.
In fact, parents have the primary responsibility of training their children. Then, if they go to school, each school has a policy on discipline. All what teachers do is – should be – for the good of the child in the final analysis.
Thus, parents and guardians should cooperate with the school authorities to ensure that their children have the best upbringing to be the best people they can be in future.
Whenever there is a disciplinary issue in any of the schools, there seems to be a grey area as to who should do what. Is it the responsibility of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to enforce punitive measures or the school’s responsibility?
Where a child has displayed insubordination what is the punitive measure to be taken and by whom? There should be a clear policy from the ministry which should be applicable in all schools, be they public or private. In this way, everyone will know where they stand when an issue arises.
