BEYOND GRADES: WHY EVERY SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENT SHOULD SERVE BEFORE THEY GRADUATE __#WEEK241 EP3
Should Secondary School Students Be Required To Do Community Service Before Graduation?
This topic is really trending now. Should students do community service before they collect their certificate? And can it actually teach them how to be selfless?
Honestly, the idea makes sense!!!
School is not just about passing WAEC, NECO and carrying certificate up and down. School is supposed to build character. To train good citizens. Books alone cannot do that. Service can.
There are many good things about this compulsory community service.
First, it teaches empathy__When students leave the classroom and enter the community, they will see different life.... Helping in a clinic, teaching small children ABC, helping old women in the house. That kind of experience, textbook cannot teach it. It opens eyes.
Second, responsibility. Many young people today think that cleaning the street is government work. Or planting trees is government work. But when they do community service, they will understand that community is everybody's work. If everywhere is dirty, you have to clean it....💯
Third, practical skills.....Teamwork, how to talk to people, how to manage time, how to solve small problems. Classroom does not teach all these things well.... A student who leads market clean-up has learned leadership already. A student who teaches primary school children has learned patience.....
Fourth, it reduces selfishness___Many people complain that this generation is too selfish. Only phone, data, money, clothes. No concern for other people. Community service can change that mindset. It shows that happiness is not only to collect, sometimes it is to give.
But let us talk true, there is problem with that part that says "if you don't do it, you will not graduate". That threat is not good.
School is supposed to encourage, not to threaten. If fear is used, students will do it for eye service. They will just sign paper, snap picture, go home. Nothing will enter their head. Some schools in Nigeria will even collect 2000 naira and give fake certificate.
Another wahala is how they will run it. Many public secondary schools do not have enough teachers, no money, no facilities. So who will supervise? Who will make sure that students are safe? Who will make sure that they are not being used as free labour for someone's private farm? If there is no plan, the whole thing will spoil.
And time itself is an issue. If they give too many hours, especially during exam time, it will affect studies. So balance must be there.
So what is the best way?
Yes, make community service compulsory, it can teach selflessness...... But how it is done is more important.
Do not make it look like punishment. Put it inside the curriculum. Like part of Civic Education. Add small marks, like 10 marks for CA. That way students will take it serious.
Also, make students choose what they like. Not everybody likes the same thing. Some like teaching, some like cleaning, some like planting trees, some like health center work. If a person chooses what he likes, he will do it with joy.
Supervision is very important. Schools should partner with trusted people in the community. Like market chairman, pastor, health center head, NGOs. They can guide the students and confirm that they really worked.
Instead of threatening with no graduation, use award. On graduation day, give best community service student a prize. People like award. It motivates more than fear.
In conclusion, the idea to make community service compulsory before graduation is a good idea. It has good intention. To raise responsible and selfless citizens. But it should be with wisdom. Not with fear and punishment.
If it is planned well, with choice, proper supervision, and encouragement, it will really help build a generation that knows how to serve others more than self.
image source AI