The Educational Future of our Children in Australia is in Serious Jeopardy
By Mamer D. Jur, Australia
I would like to inform my community that I am really worry about the future education of all our born South Sudanese – Australia; if we cannot do something about it, as parents and the community to help our children to takes advantage of the profound education in this country Australia. They need a courageous helps fromthe parents to support them in theirs studies. I know that many parents are not educated in English way. But traditionally they are intelligent; and they know the norms and the values of where they come from.
Such norms and values can be passing to the young children who have no idea about traditionally norms and values.Knowing your culture as a person, is more than anything in a human life. Cultures,norms and the values makes people who they are; yesterday and today in the diversify world. However, parents can still do their bit to encourage theirs children to study to be educated people; so that they could be better people in the future.
Telling those stories of struggling, suffering, hungry and thirsty, will makes them grow up knowing that, life is sometimes unfair to some humans’ beings in the universe; children needs to learn history of who they are from their parents. I am really appealing to many parents, especially parents who are graduates, and undergraduates to help their own children through into the journey of knowledge and education. As say goes ‘charity begins at home’.
I cannot really blame parents who has never walk to the classroom door.If theirs children are doing poorly in numerous schools in the States and the Territories. Because they do not know anything to add to their children learning, regarding school matters. Moreover, parents of know – how should do more to helps their own children.I think more could be done to solve this puzzle of poor performances of our children in schools.
Education is the only thing which will bail us out of many things which are facing us as refugees in21st century. And who will bail us out of these crises? Our born Australian citizens can change that pattern of poverty in us; laziness, talkativeness, and outside beauty and blank in the head. These young children are very intelligent; but we need to do more to help them to be even more intelligent.
These young children are in the competition with the other children of theirs ages for the future jobs prospect in this country Australia; ‘if some of us do not know that’. As a community at large, we need to be an organise community which has their own medical Doctors, Nurses, Midwifery, Lawyers, Engineers, Police Officers, Judges, and Parliamentarian and Business Personnel and other areas of profession of which are of the benefit to the community.
Why is it important to give extra hands to educate our/your children in their early childhood?
• Respect their parents, siblings and other people in the community.
• Know God as create of universe; living things and non – living things.
• Learn basic things at home. For example, cleaning, making their bed once they are awake, and all other hygiene duties. This how they learn to be responsible people.
• Knowing the differences between ‘wrong and right’ ‘good and bad’.
• Just and unjust. Fairness/unfairness.
• Equality
• So that they could grow up as better people in the future;
• Knowing why the humans are important above all the other creatures of universe.
• Be smart in their classrooms.
It is very important for the parents to educate their children at home once they have learnt how to walk and talk. And importantly when they have started attending kindergarten, parents should start teaching them how to:
• Scribble – that how they learns how to write.
• Read – do some readings for them if necessary.
• Take them to the library to read independently under the supervision of one of the parents ’or borrow
children books from the library especially when people are busy not to go the library, and of course people are very busy.
Such routines will helps them learn how to writes and read effectively. It will help them with theirs grammar, pronunciations, and analytical skills of solving problems. It is the parents’ duty to inspect their children exercise books in order to read comments from the teachers. And to make sure that they do their homework. To make sure that they do their prescribe readings from the school. It is also very important for the parents to know what their children are learning in the school.
With advance in technologies, parents need to be vigilant to discourage ‘too much Access’ of technologies by their children. Such technologies destroy children learning capacity in other areas of studying which requires other competence apart from the computer literacy. Parents should reserve adequate time for children to be allowed/ not allow using these technologies.
These tech devices which many children are addicted to them are:
• Video games.
• Facebook.
• Smart Phones.
• Mobile Phones.
• Tablets, iPad, and iPhone.
• Television.
What we needs as a community to avoid/prevent today and in the near future is that;
• To make sure our children/youth do not end up behind bars (prison). Currently numbers of our youth are serving their prison terms in juvenile centres and also in the adults’ prisons in all the States and the Territories. It seems that we South Sudanese have a higher rate of incarcerations compares to other refugees’ numbers.
• Encourage children to go to school in their early ages will helps them to understand the important of education and why it is very important to be an educated person.
• Encouraging young girls to think about school rather than thinking of getting marriage while they are not ready to confront the world.
For the last 10 years I had learnt that our children and teenagers were not; and are not doing very well in their studies whether in primary schools, secondary and the university. I did not really carryout any research to back up what I am trying to explain.
But I had been in this State of South Australia for nearly 13 years since my arrival from Africa in 2002. Many of our youth are really doing very well; they speak very good English somehow, some speaks slangs English because of the mixed culture and the influence of mother tongue.
And what I had notice was that, African – American slangs were dominate every time I speak with some of the youth. Many of them act as if they know English very well, when they are having a conversation with people; face to face chat. But I assume that they could not write clearly as they speak.
Certainly, I do believe that some of them could not even read or write properly, it is a nightmare and a shocking saga. But for the record, they are wasting their valuable time believing that they know the language.
Furthermore, I had also learnt that 8 in 10 of South Sudanese youth fail their final year, which is year 12. Then once they had failed year 12, they choose to do bridging course at the universities.This is a brilliant idea, to correct some stupid mistakes which have led them to fail.
But for some reasons many of them never finish such course. Many of them rock up at the university.To disturb the peace of well truly discipline students who has goals to achieve. Not a Facebook material and addict, and perhaps beauty thinking tank that has no future in this ever changing world.
Apparently, some of them are brave and chosen to undertake a TAFE course which is a good thing to do. They can do certificate IV or diploma for a period of 1 or 2 years and it will give them a credit to transfer to any University. Then they can do a bachelor degree at University of their choice in Australia.
But I do have sympathy for all South Sudanese youth who were born during the war and in the refugees’ camp. They had never had any convenient or quiet place to study normally, likechildren who were born in free war countries. In addition to that,their parents do not have a formal education to advise them about the important of education.
The fact is that, majority of South Sudanese youth were born oversea and they had been through many things which children of their ages should have not been through. And I could not blame their parents for their down falls; for poor performance in schools, disobeying of the laws, and disrespecting of law enforcing personnel.
Another fact is that, 98.5% of their parents are illiterate. They do not know how to write or read. So it is very difficult for these parents to help them do their homework, reading, and even computing skills.For that reasons, many youth became frustrated, stressed and depressed when things get tougher at school.
Then they chose indirectly to drop-out from the school; by walking with theirs friends who do not go to school because of the same conditions. Then they start drinking, taking drugs, smoking and stealing. And all these kind of behaviour are unlawfully under the law. So if they are caught stealing they are punishes as criminals and put away for sometimes – in prison.
In conclusion, I hope that all South Sudanese who holds certificates, diplomas, degree of sort, would not make a mistake to neglect to educate their children. I believe it will be horrific for someone who is working in the factory very hard to feed his/her family.
To let his/her child ended up in the factory like him/her. It will be a challenge for many people if this happens, because his/her child was born in this country Australia like any other child. So all the opportunities which were closed to him/her for some reasons will be available and open to his/her child to explore them.
NB: it is important if we can watch news and current affairs sometimes during weekdays and weekends. Rather than watching DVD videos all the times.
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