Mother’s Love Initiative (MLI), a non-government organisation (NGO), has condemned what it called the ‘hurried child syndrome’ prevalent in Nigeria’s education system in recent times.
Hantu Enwemadu, the founder of the initiative in her address during an event to mark this year’s International Children’s Day organised by MLI in Abuja, said there is an urgent necessity to stop the practice as it often affects the social and emotional development, as well as the progress of a child.
“Rushing a child through school has been linked with mental stress and low emotional intelligence that can lead to drug abuse, violence, and even suicide.
“What we are saying is that there is a need to inform the government, the Nigerian society, school system, especially parents, to stop hurrying our children through education.
“Basically, we are always hurrying the children; that is why you will see children just eight years old in secondary school.
“These children are skipping a whole four years in primary school, and this has a huge impact on them and their wellbeing. This can also affect the future of our country,” she said.
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Enwemadu further disclosed that the NGO holds a strong view that through sensitisation and re-orientation, parents and guardians would understand the risks involved in hurrying their children through the educational system.
Consequently, she made a clarion call on all stakeholders and shareholders in the education sector to take the needed action towards halting and reversing this unhealthy practice.
Achede Joseph, the deputy director of the secondary education department of the ministry of education called on parents and guardians to stop cutting corners when it comes to their children’s and ward’s education.
“I want to call on parents to do the right thing as this has a great impact on the future of their children,” he said.
Similarly, Adeyemi Adebayo, a child development specialist observed that the ecosystem is made up of children with negative behaviours due to the impact of the ‘hurried child syndrome.’
“When you hear that a young and intelligent man got into the university at the age of 14 years and graduated before clocking 19 years, later got married and began to beat his wife, one begins to wonder why he is doing that in spite of his intelligence. This is what we call emotional deficiency.
“It is only a child who has fully developed and passed through the educational system at the right age that can be referred to as a properly formed child,” Adebayo stated.
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