Parenting can't be delegated to schools

Editor, RE: “Indiscipline in schools: A tale of the carrot and stick” (The New Times, March 16). I quote a paragraph in the story: “Parents who delegate all duties to caretakers at home provide good breeding grounds for anti-social behaviour in children.” That is the root cause of this problem. Its ridiculous to blame the schools. It is not the job of schools to raise your children. Schools are there to educate your children in how to work with letters and numbers, how to solve problems—thats it. When it comes to proper and law-abiding behavior, i.e. the actual upbringing of a child, it is the job of the parents. People in Rwanda love getting married early, having children as soon as possible, but many fail to properly think it through. This thing of leaving children to their own devices or with the maid is painfully apparent in my neighbourhood. And I can personally attest to the “duality” present in these kids, who are one way in absence of their parents, and another way when mummy and daddy are around. These are basically what I call polished street kids. Its sad. This is something that needs to be taken extremely seriously, as these kids are supposed to be the future of our country. But, good luck getting such parents to accept their responsibility. Dayo Ntwari

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Parenting can't be delegated to schools