The unceremonious exit from the helm of Uganda’s National Examinations Board a few months ago has not barred educationalist Fagil Mandy from pursuing his teaching profession.
This time however, between 5:30 and 7:30PM, Mandy described Uganda’s parenting problem as a ticking time bomb.
“Many parents do not know how to bring up their children because they themselves were not brought up very well.”said Mandy: “Others don’t have time to care for their children because they are working of they claim they are too busy.”
He argued that the problem is not just confined to working class people, it confronts millions of Ugandans who spend day and night with their children but do not know how to raise them into responsible people.
Mandy is no novice to this field. With up to four titles on parenting to his name, Mandy has built a reputation as one of Uganda’s eminent parenting and life skills coaches. His holiday programme that focuses on equipping life skills for students at all levels of education, has grown into a major attraction for many parents.
By supporting Fagil Mandy’s parenting sessions, UNCC bosses demonstrated their willingness to model parents and homes into firm foundations for a culturally-conscious Ugandan society.
Francis Ojede, UNCC Executive Director said his organisation’s role is to provide a platform to Mandy and his facilitator colleagues to lead the process.
“The objective of these parenting sessions is to help create focused parents who would then nurture focused children and ultimately develop a focused population that is able to achieve Uganda’s vision 2040,” said Ojede.
The premier of these parenting sessions was held at the National Theatre this week and proved educative as well as interactive.
Plotting the scale of Uganda’s parenting problem, Mandy cited the influence of external forces such as the Internet, Radio and Television as big factors that have substituted for parents.
“Young people are now being derailed by external influence through Face Book. Twitter and other programmes on radio, television and peer pressure. They are generally unproductive and not ready to think. They imitate negative practices and die/waste away easily.”
So for Mandy, for Uganda to be able to its place in a rapidly globalizing world, it must start start with instilling into the parents the values and skills that will not only empower future generations to compete favourably, but also to avoid being swamped up by the powerful and destructive winds that corrupt the morals and cultural fabric of the people.
