Holiday: Are the children not overburdened by holiday lessons?

The question of whether a holiday should be a time for play and rest from the usual routine, or a time to continue to learn has continued to generate reactions from key stakeholders.

Wikipedia defines a holiday as a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced.

However, while many agree with holiday to be a period of rest from normal activities, others believe it is a perfect time to keep the children engaged in all ramifications.

Remember to tell them you saw the brand at Inside Nigeria

Vanguard went round to get the views of stakeholders.

Holiday is for rest

For a parent, Catherine Onitiri: “The world has really changed. Holiday for us in the early seventies was full force play, rest, eat and sleep. Enjoyment galore which didn’t hinder our intellectual abilities. Please allow them to be who they really are ‐ children.

Corroborating Mrs Onitiri’s view, Mobolaji Ige noted that:” Children need proper rest during the holidays. In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, children stay home or travelled to spend time with families. And they turned out well academically, I don’t understand why schools now overburden kids with studies when they are supposed to be holidaying, Ige asked.

Why holiday lesson is necessary?

Holidays especially long vacation which usually spans for six weeks or more, to some stakeholders should not necessarily be a period of all rest. Rather, it should be a time to improve oneself, especially for children who are lagging in their academic studies.

A parent, Mr Afolabi Taiwo, noted that holiday coaching should be used to improve on areas of challenges: “As for me all learners are not the same. Parents should try to understand their children and use this holiday to improve them in their areas of challenge. Do you want to tell me that a learner that is struggling with any subject should abandon it for 6 weeks and later return to it? Relaxation is only for the learners who have meaningfully utilised the school time,” Taiwo reiterated.

Holiday coaching protects children from predators

While a secondary school teacher in Preshfaith Schools, Mrs Chidimma Egbuchulam, sees holiday classes as necessity; a stakeholder believe, that the period spent in school protects children from predators.

Mrs Egbuchulam: “Holiday lessons are essential to a child in a way because it keeps the child from being idle.

“It is an avenue for pupils/students to learn and unlearn what wasn’t learned during the session and to be engaged.

“The period also protects most of them from predators roaming about looking for whom to destroy and lastly parents have limited time for their young ones.”

Convert holiday lesson to skill acquisition period

A school owner Chiyelu Okafor has this to say: “We could always convert summer lessons to skills acquisition, language classes and excursion trips, this is really unfair to still bombard the pupils with assignments, note copying and its likes.

“I don’t subscribe to it and can count the very few times my children go for such classes… I end up paying without them completing a full week.

“As a proprietress, my summer lessons are fully for club and extracurricular activities, and probably a day out for controlled school work… The brain deserves to rest, the kids need fun, and their period of rest is that long break so why still deprive them of it?

Holiday coaching, is time for rest, but

The Director of Business Executive Academy, Dr Mary-Joan Nwaogu, has stated that while holiday is basically for rest and refreshing, children can be engaged to learn skills in an informal way.

“Holiday and school vacation was originally mapped out to be a period of rest from academic work for both pupils/students and their teachers. Just like sleep, resting fosters the cognitive development of children. This is why children ought to observe ample rest during the holiday rather than involving in holiday/summer lessons.

“Owing to the length of the summer holiday, they can be engaged in some forms of fun or learning activities but not academics. They can be engaged in activities in which they use their hands (psychomotor) as these are less brain-tasking than academic lessons.

“Attending summer lessons that involve academic work is not advised as these would amount to work overload for the children. The period is meant to be a refreshing period.” Dr Nwaogu explained.

Also, an author and social change advocate, Ekeoma Ajah supported Dr Nwaogu’s view. According to a retired banker: “I would say that it depends. As long as the tenor is not too long, say two weeks, for instance, that’s fine for day schools. For boarding schools, I wouldn’t support summer school as the holiday is a period for rest as well as bonding with the family that the child left while in school.” Ajah noted.