A group of young people under the banner “Meek Youth Organization” (MeYO), in Montserrado County, has raised concerns over the limited number of vacation schools in the communities and wants parents engage their children constantly, during the break.
According to the pro-academic youth group, vacation school programs are mainly arranged by schools operating in the communities to assist parents in refreshing and supervising their kids, pending the new academic year. It is troubling, they said, for the students to be seen in the neighborhood participating in practices that are non-rewarding, most especially during the rainy season.
MeYO reported, in a release issued yesterday at its office in Monrovia, that it has for a period of over one month seen children of school going ages playing loose games like marble, bands, and others, while it is raining.
The group president, James K. Yallah, told reporters that it is unhealthy to have kids in the communities playing in the rain, something that is unprofitable in helping them and their future.
Yallah said parents need to look after their children during the vacation period to prevent them from getting more and more glued to those activities he termed as “threat to their studies and learning capacity”.
“We have surveyed the communities around district #8, gathering a disappointing fact that many children are left without supervision during vacation. This is disappointing and worrisome for their own lives. They are in the rain playing marbles and bands all over, only because of the limited number of schools running vacation programs,” he said.
The youth administrator called on school administrators and stakeholders in the academic sector to institute relevant policies and programs that will draw the attention of the young people in various places, promoting educational development.
With the adage, ‘an idle mind is the devil’s workshop’, Yallah disclosed that the Meek Youth Organization is working on the hosting of the ‘MeYO District Spelling Championship’ to provide solutions to some of the many student engagement problems around the environment.
According to him, the District Spelling Championship is part of efforts to gradually spread the importance of education to the young people, under the theme: Enhancing academic excellence around the community.
Yallah asserted that hundred slots have been created for students in both elementary and junior high, to register and form part of the biggest vacation academic program, which has numerous opportunities for talent development and academic advancement.
He said, “We at the Meek Youth Organization believe in academic excellence and academic advancement. We are encouraging parents to register their children in the MeYO District Spelling Championship so that they can be brushed up for the new school year. This is a platform that has the opportunity to keep your kids positively busy while they are on break, so take advantage.”
Some parents in the community termed the group’s innovation as a dream come true for the young people of Liberia. They said having an organization of young people initiating programs that are so much beneficiary to their younger ones, sends a sign that there are still more prospects for the country.
