Janet Museveni slams parents for poor parenting

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | First Lady, Janet Kataaha Museveni has criticized parents for not offering ample time to teach and guide their children.

She says parental negligence has left children to grow without clear characters.

Janet Museveni, also Education Minister says some parents spend more time-consuming harmful content on the internet and social media other than parenting.

She was on Friday speaking to selected Secondary School Headteachers from Acholi Sub-region during a technical consultative meeting on life skills for young children held at the Gulu State Lodge in Fourth Infantry Division headquarters.

Mrs. Museveni says while it took the village in the past to raise children, the trend has changed in recent years. She suggested that parents should take up the responsibility of guiding their children so that they become better people in the future.

She notes that while parents and other stakeholders play their roles, there is also a need for teachers in schools to be taken through guidance training.

“Even the teachers we look to educate our children, they themselves may not know other than using the curriculum and the books they have, they may not know what to do to mold these children who are put in their care. Those teachers need guidance,” She says.

The first lady pledged that her Ministry will continue to advocate for life skilling and consistent guidance of young learners in schools to promote a generation with character in future.

A number of educationists, religious, political, and security officials from the region and across the country attended the event which discussed a host of issues affecting the education of young children in the country.

Anne Lamwaka Lubwa, the Head Teacher of Bishop Angelo Negri College in Gulu City said there was a need for more mentorship programmes for young learners to instill courage.

She says many young learners were afraid to open up about what affects them because they lack mentorship.

Gulu Resident City Commissioner, Jane Frances Amongin Okili said the majority of parents especially women who should have been taking care of their children have become breadwinners therefore absconding their maternal duties.

Okili said the situation has seen children getting influenced by their peers into lives that aren’t decent.

The head teachers during the consultative meeting passed seven key resolutions they believe if implemented will address the learning and moral upbringing of young children both at schools and in the community.

Presenting the resolution to the First Lady, Peace Okwi Pamela, the Headteacher of Laroo Seeds Secondary School said among other resolutions, they agreed on the need to train and sensitize parents with value-based parenting skills.

She says they have also agreed to draft an education ordinance to emphasize the role and involvement of all stakeholders in education and nurture the future generation.

Other resolutions adopted included the need to reawaken and empower faith-based institutions to proactively engage in the education of their communities, and promote a consolidated effort in fighting and curbing child abuse, school dropout, and unethical teachers in schools and communities.

They also resolved to ensure value-based education is appreciated and implemented across all levels of education, support the development of national and social policies aimed at the rightful use of the media for the learners, and advance a united effort in scrutinizing all development partners to mitigate the infiltration of harmful vices in schools especially homosexuality, and drug abuse.

Ismael Mulindwa, the Director of Basic and Secondary Education at the Ministry of Education and Sports assured the educationists and head teachers that the Ministry is very committed to seeing the successful implementation of the resolutions.

He notes that some of the resolutions are already highlighted and being addressed in the Universal Primary Education and the Universal Secondary Education.

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