Editor,

Reference is made to the article, "Exploring the ban on primary boarding section” ( , May 20).

Though I agree wholeheartedly that children should be raised by their parents, I worry about the amount of time parents have to spend at work.

In all the time I’ve lived in Kigali, I have never met a Rwandan-whether mother or father-who was able to leave work at 16:30p.m. The concept of working from 9-5 seems nonexistent. So I question how parents will be able to deliver this nurturing environment when their work routine is so inconsiderate of family life.

Surely, this new directive should take into account parents work schedules and perhaps enforce a new directive ensuring that parents as employees actually work 9-5 so that they have time to spend with their children.

What good will it do if children are home but both parents only arrive home at 9p.m, which is common in so many households?

Concerned Citizen

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The policy is well intentioned and welcomed. However, it shouldn’t be a situation of ‘one size fits all’.

There are so many benefits for a child who is privileged to be raised by available parents.

However, things have changed today. Many of the parents who opt to send their children to boarding are those who are either employed upcountry, or have extremely busy schedules even with jobs near their residencies.

What we should be thinking about is the quality of upbringing children are receiving—I foresee a generation of house helps-raised children with no proper family values.

So many children in the City of Kigali are like orphans due to parental unavailability. Many are lonely, TV or iPad-raised and many times abused and others have no relationship with their busy parents.

We’ve heard of parents who leave their children sleeping in the morning to go to work and return to find children all asleep and this is a routine for years. These children are obviously raised by housemaids who are also unstable, which is a psychological torture to the child. Yet, good boarding schools supplement parental upbringing.

Therefore, consultations should be done among all concerned education stakeholders-experts, teachers and parents to find amicable solutions in the benefit of all children.

Discussions should actually be around the minimum requirements for boarding primary schools such as age, school facilities, human resources, number of visitations, safety, health....

Dee