Generation Of Book Hogs

 I have no apologies to make but the reality is that we are breeding a generation of book hogs. We have never stopped for once to think about the repercussion of steering our children into believing that education is the only means to an end. We are so much obsessed with performance that we forget each one of us is endowed differently. We don’t even care whether we are taking our kids to their early grave. The society should stop this madness of using education as the sole yardstick in measuring the potential of individuals and their ultimate success or failure in life.

Our Institutions have lost it. What happened to the P.E breaks? Instead of identifying innate talents in our children, they are drilling them to pass exams. Passing exams alone is not enough. They should be in a position to apply everything in their daily lives otherwise we are wasting time, money and resources raising book Warmers. No wonder the outcry by the corporate world about the quality of students that universities are Channing out.

One wonders what happened to those days when children could run and steal “maembe” (mangoes) from “wahindi” (Asians), those days when children could go to the lake or river side and learn to swim by themselves, days when children could fetch clay for themselves and mold, those days of making balls using “oseke” (straws) and polythene bags? Remember hide and seek games? What happened to those creative days? Look at the emerging institutions, there is hardly space for pupils to play.

What we are witnessing today is a complete absurdity. A situation where pupils go to school from Mon-Sun full day in full school attire. Pupils only break for 5 days for Christmas and New Year. Take a walk around the estates: children are walking with bags left and right from morning to evening despite being a holiday. This should not be a fight for Prof Kaimenya alone but the whole society.

Parents should know that Zuckerberg, and other billionaires like Micro soft founder Bill Gates and Apples late tech giant Steve Jobs did not have  to work terribly hard, spending hours in library, churches ( to read during holidays) and social halls to be where they are today. Let children identify their talents and socialize with their friends. There is so much more in life than just books, books and books.

Reagan Nyadimo, Ku