Nursery boarding schools should not be permitted!
Children in a lesson at a nursery school. It is not advisable for students of this age to board. PHOTO|FILE
What you need to know:
- In Tanzania, the boarding schools that take young kids are costly. Meaning it’s well-to-do parents who take them there; little do they know the negative impacts on their child’s well-being in the later years.
One essential component of parenting is being physically and emotionally available for your child, especially in the formative years of their life. Before a child becomes an adult, s/he goes through different stages; infancy, toddler, pre-school, school age and adolescent.
Each stage provides time of growth and development in learning, caring and bonding. Right from infancy, babies and their parents should have attachments for the best growth and development.
Early stages of child development are so critical to our children growth and development, so parents should plays their roles effectively. This is because they lay down the foundations for the children’s lives even at adulthood. They have direct impact on children’s behaviour, social skills, emotional boundaries, and ability to form close relationships with parents and relatives.
The attachment or bonding between children and mothers begins right when the child is in the womb. It makes us mothers yearn to offer our children love and affection. According to research, children who bond closely with their parents feel secure and confident, this impacts how they will interact, communicate, and build relationships in the future.
The formative years, from 0 to 8 years, are the most important for bonding. After birth, this is the time when the brain and neurobiology develop the quickest. Unfortunately, some boarding schools take in children at nursery school, 3 and 4 years old!
Why is it wrong? Talk to people who went early to boarding. They mostly have trauma! If you take a kid to boarding school, the child loses their home and connection. They are made to part from their parents for a long time, and forced to live with strangers. They experience loss kind of life! For children to continue feeling safe, acceptance and affirmation are necessary. Unfortunately, acceptance in a boarding school is based on daily performance in the classroom, and so is validation. Some parents will talk of discipline, good habits, independence, learning environment, self-reliance, etc as benefits of boarding schools. Because of work, some will say taking them to boarding school is the only viable root. But the benefits of parental presence in the formative years cannot be compared to anything and compensated.
I went to boarding school in my Ordinary and Advanced school levels. One of the most common challenges amongst all students was “homesick”. Yes, “homesickness” is real for boarding school students. Imagine what it feels like for the very young ones. Imagine a young child must learn to live without parents’ love as a result of the shattered attachments experienced in the days at boarding school.
In Tanzania, the boarding schools that take young kids are costly. Meaning it’s well-to-do parents who take them there; little do they know the negative impacts on their child’s well-being in the later years.
School policy, rules, or regulations should not permit early boarding schools! Sorry to school administrators, who provides boarding school services to extremely young children, and who have put in great investments. Except in the case of orphanages, where there are no other options, they shouldn’t even be there.
The administration of H.E Dr. William Ruto in our neighbouring Kenya has declared that residential primary schools for students in grades 1 to 9 will be abolished beginning in January 2023. Yes, nursery and primary schools should not have borders maybe when the child is aged 14 years for secondary school. We live in an age and time, despite all the progress made, yet there are several child abuse cases. It’s so crucial for parents to have emotional intimacy or connection with their young children, which leads to effective communication. It can go a long way toward protecting your child, as you will know what is happening in his/her life unlike when s/he is away from you.
