THE GIVERS....

THIS IS WHAT FLAVIANA MATATA IS DOING !!

Giving back to community through education.  Model Flaviana Matata and former miss universe is a founder of  FLAVIANA MATATA FOUNDATION which assist students with backparks, books, scholarships and back to school kits..

 

God bless you Flaviana.

  

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Tunaelimishaje watoto wetu na wa jirani zetu ?

Tunaelimishaje watoto wetu na wa jirani zetu?

‘Elimu ni ufunguo wa maisha’ ‘ Elimu ni bahari’ ‘Elimu ni mkombozi’ ‘ Kama elimu ni ghali jaribu ujinga’ hizo ni semi ambazo tunakutana nazo mara kwa mara katika upashanaji habari na utafutaji habari kwenye maisha yetu ya kila siku.

Elimu ni kitendo kinachofayika kuhamisha taarifa, maarifa na ujuzi toka kizazi kimoja kwenda kizazi kingine. Mara nyingi ni kizazi kilichotangulia kwenda kizazi kinachofuatia lakini pia inawezekana kuwa kinyume chake. Elimu inawezekana kwa mwongozo wa mtu mmoja kumuongoza mwingine ama mtu kujiongoza mwenyewe katika kupata elimu husika.

 Elimu utolewa kwa namna kuu tatu ambazo ni namna rasmi, namna rasmi kiasi na namna isiyo rasmi kabisa. Naposema rasmi namaanisha namna ya utoaji wa elimu kwa utaratibu maalum uliopangwa na mamlaka za elimu katika nchi. Utaratibu unaweza kuwa umri, mazingira ya kujifunzia, kipindi cha mafunzo n.k  mfano wa mamlaka za elimu ni Wizara ya elimu yenye jukumu hilo hapa Tanzania. Baada ya kupata mafunzo yaliyokusudiwa mhitimu anapatiwa cheti cha kuthibitisha elimu aliyopata kwa utaratibu uliopangwa.

Elimu rasmi kiasi inatofautiana na nyingine kwa namna ambayo nayo utolewa kwa wanaojifunza, utaratibu wa elimu isiyo rasmi unatofautiana na utaratibu wa elimu iliyo rasmi kwa mambo kadhaa ikiwemo umri, mazingira ya kujifunzia, utolewaji wa vyeti kwa wahitimu na muda wa kujifunza mpaka kuhitimu mafunzo yaliyokusudiwa.

Elimu isiyo rasmi kabisa, ni ile mtu anaipata kupitia vyanzo mbalimbali katika mazingira tofauti tofauti na hakuna utaratibu maalum wa kujifunza. Hakuna utaratibu wa kupatiwa cheti kwa namna hii ya kujifunza kwa vile hakuna mtu anayewajibika kwa mwingine katika namna ya elimu ipatikanayo. Mfano wa elimu hii ni pale mama anapomfundisha mwanae kupika na kufanya kazi za usafi nyumbani, baba anapomfundisha kijana wake kazi ya uvuvi ama kusuka vikapu n.k

Ambacho tunapaswa kukifahamu ni kwamba, kila mtu anapitia katika namna zote za upatikanaji wa elimu kwa namna mbalimbali kupitia familia zetu, dini zetu, rika katika jamii zetu na kupitia jamii nzima ikiwemo mamlaka ya nchi. Pia kwa kupitia vyombo mbalimbali vya habari huwa tunajifunza masuala mbalimbali katika jamii zetu.

Tukirejea katika hoja ya msingi ambayo nimeifanya kama kichwa cha makala yangu, tunaweza sasa kujiuliza maswali mbalimbali kuhusu elimu, baadhi ya maswali hayo ni kama ifuatavyo;

·         Lengo la elimu ni nini?

·         Nani anawajibika kwa upatikanaji wa elimu?

·         Elimu gani ifaayo kutolewa kwa kila kundi katika jamii?

·         Mwenye elimu ana wajibu gani kwake na kwa jamii yake?

·         Jamii ina wajibu gani kwa mtoa elimu?

·         Mtoa elimu anastahili kuwa na sifa gani?

·         Njia gani ifaayo kutoa elimu?

·         Lugha gani ifaayo kutumika katika utoaji wa elimu?

Naamini unaweza kuona hapo maswali ni mengi mno tunayoweza kujiuliza, ni changamoto kubwa iko mbele yetu kuweza kupata majibu ya maswali haya na mengineyo kuhusu elimu.

Kwa kufahamu maana ya elimu na namna ya upatikanaji wa elimu tunaweza sasa kuona ya kwamba elimu ni sehemu ya maisha mwanadamu (mtu). Kwa maana ya kwamba mtu ni mwanaelimu, kila mtu anazaliwa kwa lengo la kuwa mwanaelimu kuanzia katika ngazi ya familia na hatimaye jamii kwa ujumla wake.

Ni vema sasa kuanza kuweka uzito katika jambo la elimu kwa kuwa lengo kuu la uwepo wetu hapa duniani ni kuwa na elimu ya kutosha (maarifa). Na kwamba sote ni ndugu kwa maana ya uumbwaji wetu. Tunao wajibu kwa ndugu wote katika ulimwengu wa elimu, kuhakikisha watoto wetu na watoto wa jirani zetu wanapata elimu stahiki kwa manufaa ya jamii zetu.

 

Nb: Mada hii itakuwa na mwendelezo wake kwa kuendelea kujadili suala la elimu kwa mapana yake, ili wazazi na wadau wa elimu kupata nuru ya kufanya maamuzi sahihi.
         
Written by : Mkoba  Adrian.

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53 years of independence: Are we providing quality education ?

53 years of independence: Are we providing quality education?

By Masozi Nyirenda

8th December 2014

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Since independence in 1961, education has always been seen as the core of national development, although rapid expansion-especially of primary schools-came after the 1974 Universal Primary Education (U.P.E.) programme.

Tomorrow, December 9,  Tanzania reaches 53rd year of independence. Since independence, our education systems have gone through a number of significant changes, and are facing a number of challenges. This article is going to discuss a number of issues facing our education system and how we can plan for years ahead.

Education played an important role in the reforms that were proposed by Mwalimu Julius Nyerere soon after independence. Mwalimu Nyerere saw education as closely tied to social commitment. He believed that it should encourage both self reliance and cooperation with others.

The system proposed by Mwalimu Nyerere broke rather sharply with colonial programmes of education in several respects. Unlike many African nations, Tanzania placed great emphasis on practical aspects of education. Agriculture, commerce, home economics, technical and scientific subjects have a central role in secondary school curricula. Schooling at each level was to be complete in itself rather than a preparation for the next level. During the first years after independence majority of teachers in Tanzania were expatriates. These have been rapidly replaced by Tanzanians.

According to Mwalimu Nyerere's system, students were to be prepared not primarily for examinations, but for the agricultural life to which most of them would return. Farming workshops, where modern methods are taught inspite of the simplicity of available tools, have become an important part of the process of education. Students were expected to participate in housekeeping and administrative tasks as a means of learning responsibility and cooperation. Primary and secondary school students in towns must work in nearby villages to solidify the links between urban and rural people. During vacations, students in higher education were expected to participate in practical projects related to their field of study; failure to participate brings lower grades.

The major aim of giving education to all Tanzanians is to provide them with a concrete and reliable basis for a self-reliant life. The education that can be guaranteed to all in Tanzania is primary education. Since independence in 1961, education has always been seen as the core of national development, although rapid expansion-especially of primary schools-came after the 1974 Universal Primary Education (U.P.E.) programme.

Generally, income levels of people in Tanzania are very low, and nearly every individual tries to do something on the sideline to try to make ends meet.

Often the practice in primary schools is for teachers to bring things to school to sell, and sometimes a lot more interest is devoted to this sideline activity than the teaching to the extent that it interferes with teaching. While teachers should spend their free or spare time preparing lessons and planning what to teach, much of this time is spent on planning how to survive.

This inevitably affects the quality of teaching and school performances. Again, the poor accommodation of most teachers affects their professional development. A good decent room conducive to reading in the evenings will cost a rent which a teacher cannot pay on a salary. The low level of incomes forces teachers to live in poor accommodation, eat poorly, and dress shabbily to an extent that people look down at the teaching profession.

In addition to these major limitations, the curriculum of primary schools is very tight with very many subjects. All these subjects have to be accommodated within the timetable of five days of teaching per week. Such compactness suggests that everything can only be taught lightly.

Since independence, the Tanzanian government has allocated about 20 percent of its budget to education. However, the finances available at school level are also not enough to buy the support materials like audio visual aids, posters, models, etc, which would make teaching and learning easy.

Because of these big problems associated with the sudden increase of student population due to Universal Primary Education (UPE) campaign in 1970s and the recent Education for All (EFA) campaign, there are some problems which have not even been given sufficient attention since the economy did not grow that fast to cope with the situation. For example, schools need special rooms or facilities for teaching science, geography, models for teaching maths, audio visual aids for teaching children in order to form concepts properly, games kits for physical development of the childrens' bodies, rooms for children with special needs etc. In the absence of many facilities and presence of such huge problems, it is clear that the education that can possibly be given is of a very inferior kind. These scarcities and shortages, coupled with teachers who have very low education, ill-prepared and who are ill-motivated because of the difficult teaching conditions, means that it will take a long time before the country is able to offer a high quality education.

It is evident that the quality of the buildings, the teaching and learning materials, the working conditions of the teachers, and even the environment of learning do not portray a picture that good quality education can be provided in the majority of the Tanzanian primary schools. And yet primary education is what Tanzania claims to afford to all its citizens, which is the foundation that the country's future supply of manpower to develop the country rests. The challenge remains whether, under such conditions, Tanzania is providing the opportunity for the brainpower of its young generation to develop. Nations have become great because of the development of brainpower of its people. The question is, has Tanzania invested properly in the education of its people?

Perhaps it is not numbers that matter but the quality of the education and the resources which are channeled into education to make it a quality education. The amount of money going into primary education is very low, and this is borne out by the observation on the quality of the primary schools and the great limitation on the teaching and learning materials. Tanzania is not rich, but it can set its priorities differently which can improve resource allocation to primary education. It is necessary to realise that good education is an investment whose returns will not be immediate, but will in the long run pay very handsomely.

Tanzania has therefore to fund primary schools education much better if primary education is to remain the best education it can afford to offer to the majority of its citizens.

Since 2003, Tanzania has embarked on an ambitious programme dubbed as ‘Big Results Now (BRN)’ to boost various economic sectors including education, in order to bring quick improvement and results in our economy. As Tanzania aims to move from low-to-middle-income status by 2025, this initiative introduces significant innovations to achieve results much more quickly and efficiently.

Over the last decade, the Education system has struggled to cope with sharp increases in enrollment, as well as various quality-related issues. These include low teaching time, weak performance incentives for teachers, delayed or insufficient resource flows to schools, and the absence of student assessments in early grades.
The Tanzania Government aims to urgently address these quality issues and improve student learning outcomes as quickly and efficiently as possible. It commits to raising Education quality by strengthening accountability, introducing the right incentives, and conducting meaningful assessments within the primary and secondary Education systems.

However, there have been a number of criticisms on the BRN in education sector, as citizens have seen examination results have increased significantly; while there have not been any significant changes on challenges facing the education sector.

As MoEVT is pushing forward BRN in education sector, many education stakeholders including teachers, education officers and general public are pessimistic on whether the BRN ambitious targets will ever be met. I talked to a number of education stakeholders who pointed some anomalies especially sources of financing such an ambitious plan is yet to be confirmed. Though they were told that the implementation of the plan started since April, 2013, many feel that resources are not adequate to push forward this plan countrywide.

In addition, education stakeholders argue that there has been many plans, statements, slogans which aim at improving education in Tanzania, and exciting ceremonies and speeches, however, not much have been put into practice. For example, where did most celebrated ‘kilimo kwanza (agriculture first)’ plan gone? Currently no one is seriously sing that slogan, will BRN survive trials of time?

I understand that reaching quality education needs a lot of plans, time, investment and perseverance. However, our education leaders need to give us confidence that in the near future we would achieve intended goals in education, which is building quality human capital.

The writer is a specialist in Educational Planning, Economics, and Finance. He is reached through: masozi.nyirenda@gmail.com or +255754304181


 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

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Can we achieve 'big results now' in education ?

Can we achieve 'big results now' in education?

By Masozi Nyirenda

Overcrowding- one of the challenges facing education sector in Tanzania (File Photo)

Education is termed as an important component in man’s life an engine of the economy. In other words, education is the brain of the socio-economic development of any country. The education system of a society need to be stable, well structured and have firm foundation which could not be shaken easily.

Since independence, out education system seem to have gone through a number of significant changes, according to my opinion, some of which were necessary and some were not necessary.

In the past few years or education system has gone through turbulences in terms of discontent of citizens on quality of education both on academic performance and mastery of content and skills among primary, secondary and tertiary graduates.

Some of the inhibiting factors for Tanzania to achieve good results in education is that most teachers lack of ethics and adequate skills, knowledge and morale for work, poor working conditions, lack of teaching and learning materials and facilities, and general teaching and learning environment does not support active learning process.
As a result we have observed disastrous examination performance in Standard Seven and Form For examinations in the past five years. These poor results fuelled anger and frustration among citizens and demanded accountability of the government in ensuring or education is improved.

According to the education vision in the Tanzania Development Vision (TDV) 2025, education should be treated as a strategic agent for mindset transformation and for the creation of a well-educated nation, sufficiently equipped with the knowledge needed to competently and competitively solve the development challenges which face the nation.

Recently, as a process of implementing TDV 2025, the government analysed sectors which need adequate investment to bring quick improved results in few years. The government came up with the programme dubbed as “Big Results Now (BRN)” which was inaugurated by the President of United Republic of Tanzania, His excellence Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete. Six sectors namely energy, water, infrastructure, agriculture, education and resource mobilisation have been identified and targeted for BRN.

It has been argued that these six sectors can bring swift big results as they bear fundamental factors for opening of opportunities for national economic growth and being catalyst for improved general welfare of citizens.

For each sector analysis of challenges and proposed strategies to curb challenges was done in a form of laboratory, which collected participants from government and non government organisations with experience and expertise in the relevant sector.

In education sector, a total of 34 participants from 31 government institutions, development partners, and education development stakeholders met in form of a lab for six weeks between 25th February and 5th April, 2013, to analyse challenges facing the education sector.

One of the main challenges in the education sector was to recognise that although the enrolment rate has increased tremendously, the quality of education has dropped significantly, especially poor examination results in primary and secondary education.

The BRN-Education laboratory realised that improving quality of education is one of the development catalysts in the country. In addition, the laboratory recognised that though pass rate is not the only indicator of quality education, but for the time being it is important to use it as an indicator of quality education in the country.

Furthermore, the laboratory identified some of the burning challenges facing the education sector which have affected quality of education. Some of these challenges are:

(a) inadequate teachers, teachers’ content and pedagogy competence;
(b) lack of teachers’ motivation;
(c) lack of accountability among teachers;
(d) lack of teaching and learning aids;
(e) lack or inadequate infrastructure;
(f) lack of proper supervision at school level;
(g) monitoring and evaluation, and control of school quality;
(h) lack of effective and efficiency resource utilisation,;
(i) poor community participation;
(j) evaluation of skills and knowledge;
(k) provision of examination results;
(l) health of students;
(m) electricity and ICT utilisation;
(n) curriculum preparations processes;
(o) curriculum content;
(p) teaching and monitoring of curriculum; and
(q) lack of adequate support to slow learning students.

In order to rectify the above mentioned challenges, laboratory made a critical analysis of the challenges and came up with nine strategies which are likely to bring ‘big results’ within a short time of implementation of these strategies.

The main objective of all these strategies is to raise examination pass rate from 31 percent for primary schools in 2012 to 60 percent in 2013; likewise, in secondary schools, pass rates to rise from 43 percent in 2012 to 60 percent in 2013.

In addition, pass rates should also rise to 70 percent in 2014 and 80 percent in 2015.

The nine strategies which aim at improving quality of education are:
(a) Official school ranking: rank 100 percent of all schools in the annual official school ranking, starting with 2012 Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) and Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (CSEE) results;
(b) School incentive scheme: reward 4,000 most improved schools every year with monetary and non monetary incentives and recognise top 200 performers, starting with 2013 results. Monetary incentives expects to be between TShs. 1,000,000/= and 5,000,000/= for primary schools and TShs.2,000,000/= and 10,000,000/= for secondary schools;
(c) School Improvement toolkit: distribute school improvement toolkit and train 19,000 school heads. This kit aims at supporting school heads to execute their work effectively. It complements the existing guidelines and is focused around a practical advice and simple best practices on school management;
(d) National reading, writing and arithmetic (3Rs) assessment: conduct the first national 3 R assessment in Standard Two in October 2013;
(e) 3Rs teacher training: train 12,300 Standard One and Two teachers in 3Rs teaching skills;
(f) Student Teacher Enrichment Programme (STEP): train 17,000 primary and 8,000 secondary school teachers to support low performing students;
(g) Basic facilities construction: construct basic facilities in 1,200 secondary schools.
(h) Capitation grants: ensure 100 percent timely delivery of books and materials to all students through alternative funding and monitoring. The Resource mobilisation lab aims to provide TShs.158 Billion by 2015 for teaching and learning materials to schools through the “Education Investment Levy”; and
(i) Teacher motivation: recognise teachers through non monetary incentives, ensure zero outstanding claims by end of June 2013, and zero unresolved claims not more than three months ahead.

Implementation of the above mentioned strategies have started since 17th April 2013. There are a number of tasks which have been accomplished including preparations of tool kit, training of teachers, releasing of TShs.26 Billion to start construction whereby 260 contracts have been awarded and payment of teachers’ accumulated claims.

BRN for Education sector was publicly inaugurated on 15th August 2013 by Honorable Shukuru Kawambwa, Minister for Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT). During the process of inauguration of BRN, senior education officers took oath pledging to meet targets as set in the education sector through BRN, failure of which they will be held accountable.

Public inauguration of BRN for education sector was preceded by internal meeting between the MoEVT high officials and education officers (DEOs and REOs). During the meeting top officials from MoEVT provided a detailed explanation of BRN and expectations from REOs and DEOs to push forward implementation of this programme.

As MoEVT is pushing forward BRN in education sector, many education stakeholders including teachers, education officers and general public are pessimistic on whether the BRN ambitious targets will ever be met. I talked to a number of education stakeholders who pointed some anomalies; taking an example of achieving 60 percent pass rate this year is next to impossible considering that only one month has remained for STD VII candidates to take their final national examinations; while about two months have remained for Form Four students to take their final examinations.

Another argument from education stakeholders is that sources of financing such an ambitious plan is yet to be confirmed. Though they were told that the implementation of the plan started since April, 2013, many feel that resources are not adequate to push forward this plan countrywide.

In addition, education stakeholders argue that there has been many plans, statements, slogans which aim at improving education in Tanzania, and exciting ceremonies and speeches, however, not much have been put into practise. For example, where did most celebrated “kilimo kwanza (agriculture first)” plan gone? Currently no one is seriously sing that slogan, will BRN survive trials of time?

I agree with opinions of education stakeholders, but I am also optimistic that BRN can give us big results in education now. There are a number of issues which need to be taken seriously in order to ensure we reach intended goals at last by 2014. The issues are:

(a) Need for radical change in execution of our duties. We need to stop doing business as usual and brace ourselves to work hard and diligently in a speed to reach intended goals. This is possible if we have will and commitment to do that;
(b) Need to be accountable. Levels of accountability should be strengthened and followed up effectively. Who ever we feel can not cope with the speed we need should be set aside so that we are no delays in accomplishment of targets;
© Ensure that there are adequate resources and are distributed to relevant levels on time, to do away with delays;
(d) Create an open working environment within different levels of education sector. Transparency will help in identifying hindrances and take care of them earlier so that the work progresses. It will also improve motivation among implementers of BRN at different levels; and
(e) Need for collective responsibility in enhancing education delivery in the country.

Despite challenges ahead, MoEVT have shown a way on enhancing transparency and accountability among its officers, by holding an open meeting between officers and ministry’s high level officials as well as demanding its officers to pledge their accountability to the public. With support from all education stakeholders, and increased commitment among top officials at the MoEVT, we will make a step forward, it cold be slow but steady. We can still discuss, debate and advise MoEVT on how best BRN in education sector can be implemented to achieve the most out of it.
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The writer is a specialist in Economics of Education and Finance, Education Planning and Policy Studies. He is reached through: masozi.nyirenda@gmail.com or +255754304181 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

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Tanzania's girls struggle for education.

 

 

Tanzania's Girls Struggle for Education 

December 15, 2014 - 1:10pm | admin 

 

By Alyssa Stein

Tanzania, a country whose population growth vastly exceeds its economic growth, is the 26th poorest country in the world. While tourists revel over Mount Kilimanjaro's natural beauty, locals struggle to keep themselves afloat. Consequently, Tanzanian families are constantly seeking ways to raise their incomes and increase their standards of living.
According to Research on Poverty Alleviation (REPOA), raising a Tanzanian student education level by even one year could increase household income by roughly 30 percent. However, education comes at a high price, and with a shortage of schools, sacrifices must be made. In a traditionally patriarchal society, these sacrifices often come at the expense of Tanzania’s young women.
Enrollment rates for secondary school are significantly lower than enrollment rates in primary school. Between the shortage of secondary schools and the exorbitant cost of tuition and supplies, Tanzania’s net enrollment rate for lower secondary education is around 31 percent, and has only once peaked at 35 percent. Though gender parity is nearly achieved at a primary level, the gap grows significantly at the secondary level of education.
Even if young women are able to attend primary and secondary schools, they face several hurdles their male counterparts do not. While all Tanzanian students must walk three to five miles to and from school, young women face an even greater risk walking these streets alone. As the treacherous walk takes place at both dawn and dusk, girls are vulnerable to sexual abuse en route. With a higher risk of abuse comes a higher risk of pregnancy, and in a society that believes “pregnant girls have expelled themselves” and have committed adultery, the only option left for these young women is to drop out and care for their young children.
There are numerous international organizations seeking to provide better educational opportunities for girls in sub-Saharan Africa. Africa School Assistance Project (ASAP) is one of many that focuses on Tanzania specifically and has already established five local schools, three primary and two secondary. In the past six years, ASAP has provided 1,500 children with the right to education. After noting the success of its first all-girls school, Idetemya Secondary School, ASAP has developed a new model to provide girls with a rich education that will benefit them and address the challenges they face throughout their education.

This model, called the Kupanda Project for Girls, aims to boost access and retention rates for girls in secondary schools. The project not only implements more dormitories for girls, but also significantly increases health, sanitation, and nutrition services. In addition, the Kupanda Project  includes school-based initiatives such as teacher training, tutoring sessions, and a girls leadership program. Though the project is still in its developmental stages, it will be piloted in 2016 with a group of 144 girls.
According to ASAP, projects such as the Kupanda Project are beneficial because “girls who receive a secondary education will marry later, have higher family incomes, tolerate less domestic violence, and give their children better care, thereby reducing infant mortality rates.”
“In order for [the Kupanda Project] to work,” explains Susan Bachar, executive director of ASAP, “it must be simple to implement, conducive to serving girls in rural areas, culturally appropriate, inexpensive, and, above all else, it must be replicable." If ASAP raises graduation rates for girls by 50 percent, then the next goal will be to establish the model throughout the rest of rural Tanzania, and potentially extend throughout other East African nations.
Tanzania is not the only sub-Saharan African country in need of education reform. While there have been many initiatives focused on education equality across Africa, there have been very few that bring all areas necessary for female education together. “Some focus on increasing access to school, some on teacher training, [and] some on mentoring the most promising girls to develop leadership skills and business acumen,” explains Bachar.
The Kupanda Project, however, serves to address all of those issues in one initiative. Bachar states it is “predicated on the idea that girls need more than one answer to the question: ‘What do you need to be successful in secondary school?’”
While education is the first step toward empowering youth, it is not the only sector that needs reformation to adequately provide a supportive environment for girls and women. In a traditionally gender-biased society, social and political infrastructure need to be reformed, allowing girls and women their opportunity in the spotlight. “When women hold positions of political power,” explains Bachar, “they are far more likely to influence policy in ways that support girls and women.”
The only way to achieve this in a long-standing patriarchal society is to encourage Tanzania’s men to embrace female empowerment. As Bachar states, “Fathers, husbands, sons, and brothers must be the target of ardent and relentless education campaigns in order to create real change for girls and women. Only then will programs aimed at women’s full participation be successful.”
Of course, changing a patriarchal mindset will take time. As a first line of action, education initiatives must target young girls and women. When women are educated, studies show self-confidence and leadership levels increase significantly. In the words of Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, “One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world.” ASAP and other pro-social organizations like it aim to provide these resources to young women striving for better tomorrows.

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Alyssa Stein is an editorial assistant at World Policy Journal.
[Photos courtesy of Cesar Palomo and Colin McMechan]

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Why should students participate in extracurricular activities ?

Firstly 

extracurricular  activities  refers  to  events  or  activities  that  students  involves  in,  mostly  outside the  teachings  learned  in  class  such  as  music,  sport s and  academic  clubs. They  present  learners  with knowledge  and  values  of  collaboration,  character  and   group tasks,   physical  strength  and  endurance, competition  and  sense of diversity and community.

Extracurricular activities offer students with an opportunity to put into practice things learned in classrooms and gives them a chance to exercise those skills in real-world situation.

Researchers have shown that extracurricular activities increases students sense of commitment and attachment therefore decreasing levels of school dropouts. These students become active in class which in turn is a big contributor in them passing their exams.

IMPORTANCE OF EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

A.      Learning time management and prioritizing.

When students involve in extracurricular activities, they learn how to deal with variety of different tasks and commitments. This helps them in their adult life to undertake responsibilities.

B.       Learning about long term commitments.

When students join these activities or clubs, they commit to them for a period of time, if they don’t hold up; their colleagues and teachers are there to remind them of their commitment. Therefore it is one of important life skill that would help them in their adult life.

C.       Learning to contribute.

A student will learn how to add or contribute to any activity that others are engaged in and not just to think about themselves.

D.     Raises their self esteem

Because of the way some of these students have been brought up, they may feel worthless or just not good at anything, so when they participate in extracurricular activities, it raises their self esteem in learning those things that they are good at.

PHYSICAL BENEFITS OF EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

                                                        I.            Fitness

When children are growing up, their bodies are very active and needs to be engaged in various activities mostly sport. This is when most students discover their talents which if nurtured well, these children grow up to be great in certain games which earn them a living.

                                                      II.            Health

In order to avoid some diseases like diabetes and many others, it is important to engage children in activities like sport. This makes their bones and blood circulation to be in good shape, their brains develops perfectly which gives them an edge in classroom. Most than not, children who participate in sport do not struggle with weigh issues and other insufficiencies’ that come with being unhealthy.  

                                                    III.            Concentration and engagement

Sport and clubs requires a lot of time of concentration and engagement hence students participating do not indulge in bad behavior like abusing drugs and other vises that lead to school dropout and or poor performance in exams.

                                                    IV.            Obedience

Trainings and instructions that children receive from their teachers and instructors, when followed correctly gives good results and when students learn obedience, this becomes their character which demonstrated not only in school but also at home.

Conclusion:

A well rounded education is that which involves extracurricular activities outside regular academic program. This is what helps students’ academic careers immensely.

Besides being fun and a great way to socialize with peers, extracurricular activities can enhance students’ time management and stress management skills, improving overall productivity. It also increases a candidate’s appeal when applying to college.

Extracurricular activities helps in physical growth of students, those who involve in various activities have better health, appearance and are lively children.

                                       Written by Henry.

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