As cases of violence amongst students have become common place; an issue which has been considered by the general populace as a course for the degrading performance of children in schools, the Principal of the Royal International Academy, Anthony Mackotie Sesay has said that parents as well as teachers should monitor students’ behavior at home and within school environments.
Mackotie Sesay who made the pronouncement in his school’s campus at Kissy Dockyard during the 2nd Annual Thanksgiving service past weekend, maintained that children, especially school-going ones are the future leaders of this nation and as such should be seen to be well behaved both at home and in schools.
But the Principal of the five year old Royal Academy hinged a huge portion of students’ negative behavior on parents, whom he alleged, spend more time with their kids and virtually spend less than three hours with a particular teacher. In most cases, he mentioned, teachers are aggressively scolded by certain parents when they beat their children for bad conduct.
Education, Mr. Mackotie noted, needs all hands on deck and that monitoring of children’s conduct requires the involvement of everyone so that “we would be able to have a society that is full of peaceful and well-comported citizenry”.
He said the culture of violence has become so permeated among students to a point that all students’ activities (which used to be peaceful, friendly and academic) have been characterized by violence. Practical cases he cited are university elections and related activities which have been marred by violence over the years.
Principal Sesay said that on a daily basis, mostly in assemblies, classrooms and formal gatherings, he admonished his students to always eschew violence and that reports pertaining to violence in his institution are always treated with utmost seriousness.
One of the pupils of Royal Academy, a JSS II pupil who simply identified herself as Kadiatu, and gorgeously dressed in her school’s ceremonial attire confessed that prior to his enrolment in the school, her character was such that was confrontational, aggressive and somehow careless. But now (certainly on account of the persistent exhortations she receives from school’s authorities) even her parents are proud of her as she claimed she has speedily transformed from that state of violent propensity to somebody that is well reformed.
Questioned on the establishment of the school, Mackotie said that the institution was born out of what he claimed as “his irresistible desire to contribute to the development of the country through the strengthening of human resource in the area of education.” He said the institution (a private school) started with 35 pupils in 2007, and that because of the school’s commendable performances in public exams, and the overall performance of pupils outside school compound, the number has increased to over 300.
He went on to state that his courage to admit more children is hindered by inadequate accommodation since they are using the facilities of the Wesleyan Church at Kissy Dockyard. But he disclosed that plans are underway for the construction of the school’s own buildings to facilitate more learning.
By Poindexter Sama
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