Parents should remain vigilant, this holiday is long

Education sector in Kenya has been overwhelmed by numerous reforms since Dr. Matiang’i ascended to the Education docket. It is reforms which have been applauded by many academicians simply because they have greatly aided in restoring sanity in the once turbulent vital ministry in Kenya.

From universities to primary schools, the intense pressure created by the Education CS is felt by everyone. Parents and students were delighted when Dr. Matiang’i prolonged the usually one-month December holiday to two months. Little did they know the dangers associated with such long holidays.

December holiday is flanked by numerous festivities. Being the only time when those operate under tight schedules get ample time to celebrate various achievements of the year, bashes are in abundance. During these celebrations, parents routinely ignore their fundamental role of inspecting what their children consume. Innocent children are left in the hands of reckless relatives who end up introducing them to alcoholic drinks, after bashes are converted to drinking sprees. Apparently, parents are compelled to ensure the safety of their children if they would like to salvage themselves from shame of teen pregnancies come January. They ought to understand that idleness and weird companies may end up spoiling their once submissive kids.

I hereby beseech parents to monitor their children closely in order to avoid troubles come January, 2017. They are the ones to play the fundamental roles played by teachers while in school to ensure students are not churned into smokers, alcohol addicts or young women. They should ensure that their children are incessantly occupied with holiday assignments or household chores. By doing this, I staunchly believe such cases will be trivial come next year.