Why we need to teach children to seriously plan for life ahead

As 2025 begins, it is important to remind ourselves, especially young people, about planning their life. A generalisation goes out there describing Tanzanians as slow and laid back; those who have gone abroad or overseas might have heard this. We need to teach our young people to plan ahead of time.

Planning ahead of time will, in a more general coverage, include career aspirations from expressed childhood dreams, which are then nurtured, or shaped to help the child discover and single out his or her passion. A worst case scenario is when children's childhood dreams are dismissed and rejected, and replaced by their parents' ideas and wishes for the children.

When plans for the future are made considering the child's interests and curiosity, there are more chances of the child flourishing. But when the child is pushed to love certain things under pressure from adults, they do it to please them but it often doesn't strike the curiosity in them. It is hard to do well in things one does not like.

At the moment, a large percent of unemployed young people fall in the category of those whose parents chose a career path for them, or those who had no career guidance at all in the family.

Guidance helps one to discover their strengths and weaknesses, interests as well as areas that spark curiosity. In the west children are asked what they like, and the schools also help to shape their little dreams because they have the potential to attain unimaginable growth.

To have our people at the same competitive pace in the worlds of science and technology, leadership, innovation, business, etc. in the future; we need to begin to nurture them as early as possible.

Business persons are formed by being exposed to business, however little. The earlier the better.

Imagine a doctor who goes through all the tedious medical training for years, and graduates with flying colours just to please their parents and then goes back to studying something they actually liked. This doctor can be a danger to patients because they lack passion for the task.

It is a good reminder this January for parents who begin to call their children "our doctor," "our engineer," while fully aware that the interests of their children lay elsewhere. While this is motivation towards a successful life, it may overshadow what children feel more drawn to, and what they do best even while still young.

We also need career guidance to be continuous for our young people. There should be a facility for it in the educational system from the lower levels so as to produce young people who are enthusiastic about their future and the global future.

We already have enough young people who have lost their sense of direction with regards to career paths, and would avail themselves to do anything to survive. It is time we set mechanisms to prevent a prevalence of the same.