Musajja,
I agree with you. This is crazy! A Nursery Boarding school is beyond belief!
At what point will this kind of money thirst lead people? There is no way a nursery/kindergarden boarding school can be in the interest of the child's learning and educational ability.
I myself went to a secondary boarding school and I must say that it was the worst decision my parents made for me. At first I liked the idea because I wanted to experience boarding life. I missed my parents, siblings, home, and homefriends like crazy! And when it came time to come back home, I had to re-learn how to interact with my own parents, siblings, and homefriends. It was a weird feeling.
I don't know about other people's feelings. But for me, whenever I took long to interact with certain people, I had to re-learn how to live with them again. I mean, my parents, siblings, and homefriends were kind-of-sort-of like halfway strangers in my perspective. There was some kind of emotional distance between them and I. It created some kind of emotional attachment disorder which I felt (that weird feeling).
The good thing is that when I came back home for a very good amount, long period of time, I caught up with parents, siblings, and homefriends - we bonded again.
To hell with boarding schools for young kids in nursery/kindergarden. These children need their parents 24/7 for emotional security and psychological development before anything else. If my parents took me (if I was child that young) to a nursery boarding school, I would die! Hahahah, oh really? Would I? I don't know. But I would be a very confused child. As a child: give me my parents or give me death!
Rehema M.
================================================================
d b <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
d b <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Ugandans ae about to migrate to Mars - imagine a Nursery Boarding school. May be I never understood what I learnt from School - you take a baby to a nursery boarding school - goodness.
bwanika.
and this
The school’s extra-curriculum offers include music, dance and drama, sports and games, swimming, brass band, digital television (DSTV) connections and a fully equipped disco machine to entertain the children.
-----------------
Pioneering nursery, primary boarding schools in Uganda
Movers & Shakers: By Ibrahim Kasita
Oct 26 - Nov 2, 2004
Basic education providers must not be taxed at the same high level as commercial institutions, says Mr Vincent Matovu, proprietor and headmaster of Vincentalex Boarding Primary School.
The school is located in Mukono, 20Km from Kampala City centre on the just off the Jinja-Kampala highw ay.
“We provide social services to the people in order to eradicate illiteracy. But we are taxed as if we are commercialising the education services,” he says. “Government should scrutinise business oriented schools and genuine education providers before hiking tax on us.”
For the last 20 years, since he opened the first nursery boarding school in Uganda. Matovu has been involved in private education in Mukono District.
“I started my school to experiment the new approach of teaching young kids,” he says.”At that time, children were taken for granted and taught forcefully — something which could not generate interest in learning.”
Teaching young ones need logic. They require freedom to generate interest in learning and guide them what is good for them, he further says.
Matovu, who is a professional teacher specialising in child psychology, was a teacher in Kisaasi Primary School and Namiryango Juniour Boys School, before his enterpreneurial instincts t ook better of him.
“I first rented land in Seeta in 1984 to set up the nursery school for four years before acquiring land in Mukono,” he recalls.
Pioneering nursery, primary boarding schools in Uganda
At the time of setting up the nursery school several areas around Kampala, especially Mukono were insecure because of the intensive civil strife in the country. Ironically this is one of the reasons that prompted Matovu.
“Children are innocent,” he says. “In fact it is because of insecurity that I started a school to provide them with the security as their parents were hiding from the enemies.”
Why did he choose Mukono? I bought a piece of land suitable for constructing a school, he replies.
Vincentalex is now a fully-fledged boarding nursery and primary school. It has both day and boarding students with varying school fees. Nursery to primary three students pay Shs270,000 (boarding) and Shs170,000 (day) per term.
Primary four and primary s even students pay Shs330,000 (boarding) and Shs230,000 (day) per term. Matovu is worried about the infiltration of rich people into the field of primary education who aim at making profit. Such people are not always teaching professionals.
And their involvement has lowered the standard of education and led to an increase of violent strikes against schools.
Matovu calls such people “multiplication table planners.”
He says, “With the liberalisation of the education sector, standards of education have improved vastly. However, there are those wealthy people who have invested in building school just to make money but not considering the standards of education.”
In the hands of private sector, and where management is driven by revenue-generation and competition, schools are bound to collapse, he says, because parents will pay for good services.
For this reason, despite the introduction of Universal Primary Education in 1997, many parents have opted to put their children into private schools and this is reflected in the mushrooming number of new private schools.
Matovu says money matters because it allows the implementation of new programmes, not for profit.
Vincentalex has won accolades including the Children Challenge Week in Mombasa two years consecutively from 1994-1996.
Matovu explains that sometimes private schools have budget shortfalls in the middle of the term, which affects their operations in providing education.
Sometimes, parents forget to visit their children and leave everything to school authorities. The schools charges just one fee that covers all requirements plus pocket money. A parent pays Shs330, 000 a term.
Matovu is pleased that liberalisation of education has resulted in higher literacy and better health for children.
He says the standards of education must be the priority and then money. “Business comes on how to build the school, payment of teachers and implementation of school policies”.
Matovu is convinced that the liberalisation of the education sector is the only way to go, he would like to commend government for the conducive atmosphere for competition.
For his part, Matovu is so convinced that liberalisation of the education sector is the only way to go, he would like to commend the government for the conducive atmosphere for competition. He is also grateful for government.
“I thank the government for rendering the atmosphere for competition of education providers,” he says. “If such atmosphere continues, then the best service providers will survive and those poor ones will be eliminated out of business.”
Matovu has enormously benefited from travelling abroad. He says his foreign tours have helped him discover what is offered in schools abroad.
“I have been able to find out what is offered abroad, copy it and offer it to our children here,” he says.
One such idea is to offer computer lessons to children at an ear ly age. At Vincentalex boarding schools computer lessons (offered from primary three to primary seven) are compulsory and free. The school also has a website, www.geocities.com/vincentalexuganda.
The school’s extra-curriculum offers include music, dance and drama, sports and games, swimming, brass band, digital television (DSTV) connections and a fully equipped disco machine to entertain the children.
Future plans including construcing a theatre, and a swimmig pool.
The school headmaster can be contacted at 077-451753. Parents can reach their children at 041-290246.
Bwanika
________
http://www.idr.co.ug
--> for your consultancy needs
http://p201.ezboard.com/fugandamanufacturersassociationfrm1
-----------------------------------------------------------
Spela poker mot verkliga människor över Internet. Över 60 000 spelare online
http://www.multipoker.com
_______________________________________________
Ugandanet mailing list
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet
% UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
Do you Yahoo!?
Express yourself with Y! Messenger! Free. Download now.
_______________________________________________ Ugandanet mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
