Duties of schools in national moral development
Introduction
Moral decadence in Nigeria has generated lot of problem in all sectors of our society resulting in the slow pace of development in the country. This call for urgent intervention by our educational sector in order to inject discipline into the life style of the Nigeria youth in general :The moral; decadence ranges from examination malpractices, stealing bribery and corruption, sexual promiscuity, social mal- adjustment, insubordination, disrespect to human right and to the rules of law. All these immoral behaviors probably contributed to declining economic and educational standard, resulting in importation of strange social behaviors into our society. This in turn has really gone deep into the life style of people in the society thereby generating fear, unpatriotic, feelings, disunity, lack of faith in the development and progress of the country, distrust towards leaders and unguided behavior in the mind of the ones with conscience who would have loved to uphold high moral standards. Those who gain from these immoral attitudes prefer it to continue. Therefore, there are needs for proper orientation to be given to the youth ones. This will eradicate this oral decadence in our society, thereby creating room for Development: This can only be done by our educational sectors through the school which at the grassroots, matters most in the instance of development.
The curriculum in our school both elementary and secondary and programmes in general will need to be tailored towards the achievement of both the moral and academic aspect of education are yet to be achieved fully in our educational system. This is due to society's reliance on paper qualification. This has deflated ethical fulfillment of education in the life of our youth.
Types of morality
There are many ways by which immoral acts can be described. However, this paper will classify them into three groups. These are:
1. Anti-social behavior: These consist of destruction of public property and utility, rioting hooliganism, stealing and bullying. In sport, ungentlemanly conducts such as fighting spiting, kicking an opponent, deliberately bouncing the ball out of annoyance when the referee stops the ball for a foul committed by an athlete belong to this category
2. Acts of Define: Immoral acts in this category are of indiscipline usually directed against constituted authority and established rules. The common ones in school are refusal to wear school uniform, examination malpractices, sexual immorality, breaking of bounds, smoking, drinking and drug addition, breaking of refusal to carry out punishment assigned as a result of wrongdoings, and failure to perform lawful school duties. In sports any act from an athlete(s) that is directed against the authority such fouls personal fouls, disrespect to officials, disregard to camp rules and regulation just as references above.
3. Negligence of duty and Responsibilities: This involves acts such as caress handing of school and personal facilities and equipment, lateness to school and assemblies, refusal to carry out morning duties and other school assignments, truancy in class and school attendance and aiding and abetting examination malpractices.
What school moral means
School moral is the ethnical training given to students directly or indirectly during their school years. School moral can also be termed school discipline. Discipline in educational terms means training. In classroom situation, it is the ability to guide and control the class toward the attainment of pre-determined objectives for education and the school moral to acquire while in school. Since primary and post-primary schools are expected to train children and adolescents, it implies that such training is intended to instill in them a sense of maturity in the roles expected of adults. Thee roles include sex, social values, emotional behavior, intellectual activities, moral values and judgment and economic activities school discipline so to say is one of the duties executed by the school authority promulgation of school policy, rules and regulation which are usually enforced by the schools' authority, and teachers and prefects in school. This ranges from regulation guiding school programmes, interpersonal relationship among students, teachers and students' relationship and students' behaviors outside the schools (stone and church 1979).
In the past, the rules of seniority in school were seriously followed and respected unfortunately these are no longer in existence or are not firmly followed. Unfortunately, students that need to be properly disciplined lack good leaders to follow, because some of the teachers who suppose to show them good example lack self- discipline (Ozigi, 1976). The responsibility of our school towards the inculcation of high standards of morals into our youths is highly necessary; because a nation without morals be taken by our schools if we still want this nation to develop (Getzel and Guba, 1969).
Causes of immorality in the schools
Immorality can be caused by either internal or external factors or both.
The internal factors may be teachers' lack of commitment, teachers' immorality or indulgence and ambiguous school rules and regulation, interest of students in school affairs, and planned or unchallenging school curriculum, or poorly executed curriculum. These are also applicable to school among athletes (Adesina and Ogunsaju, 1984). The internal factors for athletes will include inadequate coach, inadequate knowledge on rules and regulations, bad team management, athletes' lack of exposure and experience to mention but few.
The external factor includes the nature of the community or society in which the school is located. It exercises adequate control and supervision over their children, inadequate facilities and equipment, instability in school staff personnel, bureaucracy. The home is another cause of indiscipline in school system. For example a child from a broken home may be lacking paternal or maternal care and supervision. This may result in immorality; a child's attitude in school is a reflection of the home or a carry over effect of behaviors at home. Don't forget the maxim ‘'like father like son". Immoral parents will breed immoral children. The ways some parents interfere with school disciplinary process contribute to disciplinary problem of students (Adesina, 1990).
There is also a sort of influence from culture. Where a child is undergoing mixed cultural transformation, there will be confusion in adhering to one. For example, a child from a well education home may find himself between African and western cultures and dilly –darling in taking decisions and acceptable behaviors. School are part of the society, they are operating within it; hence there is no way they will not be influenced by the located of the societal ills such nepotism, favoritism, bribery, corruption, victimization, intimidation, blackmail and the likes help to pronounce acts of immorality in our school (stone and church, 1979).
Rationale for sound school moral
Education is a process of developing a total man: physically, socially, mentally and spiritually. This means that all aspects that make up a man expected to be developed. Hence, school's as far as it is concerned with the generality of man needs to be for academics and morals or for learning and culture.
We cannot talk of education without bringing the culture and moral value of the society into Education will be incomplete if these two areas are missing. Therefore schooling is not mainly for academics alone but also for moral upbringing of the individual.\ Education in school supposes to prepare the child for the future; updating his / her knowledge and experience to the standard that will make him fit in to such a society and moreover enable him to adapt to any situation or condition he / she finds himself herself. This means that as the child is being literally developed his moral value must equally be cultivated. Moreover, since the school is part of the society and the child is of both parts of the school and society; it is necessary that such a child be brought up to a standard where he / she can freely mix up and fit into his culture as part of the society without any constrain or discomfort. This can only be done if the norms, values and ethics of his society are adequately passed unto him /her In addition, the child's home cannot give all necessary education adequately all alone.
A child needs to be brush up or learn the missing aspects of social, psychological, spiritual and ethics outside the home. Education can take place directly, through incidental, integrated, through peers, siblings and others in the community, whichever way it takes it must contribute to the totally of man in the child. The school is the best place to learn or bridge the missing gap; due to its formal setting that education taking place there to be genuine and authentic. It is believed that the schools are the products of school are also the Mirror of the school and the teachers therein.
Influence of the school moral in nation development
In Nigeria today, there is rapid moral decadence cutting among adults, youths and children in all sectors of the society. Delinquent behaviors have de-generated the psyche of individuals in the society to the extent that people have lost faith in the ability of the government to uphold morals and justice. People are no longer committed either as self employees, civil servants, laborer in private institutions, even as a teacher, or students. All codes of conduct as far as their areas are concerned are paper work commitment and dedication is no significance as far public places are concerned. Majority are after their selfish ends.
Outsides schools and government institutions, there are increases in cases such as robbery trick starting touting and all sorts of misfit behaviors in our societies. Research findings have shown that majority of people found in this acts are mostly school dropouts, children from broken home and unemployed graduates of venous institution at different levels. Therefore, this calls for proper implementation of social and ethical education in our schools. Curricular on social and ethical education are well planned and developed at the same time properly implemented most of the above stated moral decadence would if not totally eradicated be reduced to the minimal (stone and church, 1979).
Apart from curriculum, all other programmes in the school such as clubs, associations of extramural and extramural activities such as sports if properly tailored could assist greatly in correcting moral misconception and in indoctrinating children in proper ethical values and practices. If these can be achieved there will be sanity in our society. Our society will be healthy and economically viable if moral decorum would be of followed and practiced. It will result in sound social development and national development.
Duties of the school in promoting moral
To uphold and enforced the existing policy rules and regulation in the school, the school should make sure that the school rules are strictly followed. For example rules guiding fighting, examination mal-practices and the likes should be effective: however school rules and regulations should not be ambiguous. They should be simply defined and easy to interpret. Preceding social programmes and amenities for ethical promotion should include sporting activities or physical and health education programmes. This type of programmes will not only inculcate act of morality, but will also make it as a way of life in them for example provision of varieties of social activities or physical and health education programme in school will reduce if not eradicate some delinquencies such as truancy, bully, idleness and laziness among the students. School can organize some moral talks in form of seminars for students. In this Situation counselors or experts from various fields will come and give talks on discipline. These may taake the forms of psychology, sociology, health talks, career talks schools should endeavor to provide at leased a period week on the school time table for moral education.
School can also promote ethics in the school through parents. In this regard or talk will be organized for parents during parents. Teachers' Association (PTA) and ethical issues can be discussed. School authority can be a student.
School authority should verify the rationale behind a student seeking transfer into the school. This makes the school to know whether it is as a result of misbehavior or dismissal that is causing the students to seek transfer to the new school. In this manner, misfit students would be easily noticed and refused transfer into other school in other to discourage others from misbehaving.
There should be school exchange programmes among school in relation to moral talks, social relation, patriotism, human right, democracy and all sort of things that has to do it respect of individual and society.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the ability of our school at all levels to instill ethical values in our educational system will go in small way to eradicate all moral decadences hindering and deterring our national development. Proper execution of school will highly influence our national development positively.
References
Adesina and Ogunsaju (1984). Secondary education in Nigeria. Ile lfe. University of lfe press Ltd.
Adesina (1990). Educational Management. Enugu Fourth Dimensions Publishing Co. Ltd.
Berelson. B and Steiner, G.A. (1964). Human Behavior. New York: Brace and world Inc.
Elarey R: Bradley, and Caldwell, B.M. (1975). The relation of Infants' home environments to mental test performance from six to thirty six months. A longitudinal analysis. Child Development 46, 71-76.
Getzel, J.W. and Guba, E.G. (1968). Social behavior and the Administrative process. School Review, L.X.Y. winter.
Krech, D. Rosenzweig, M .R. and Bennett E .C. (1975). Effects of Environmental complexity and training on brain Chemistry Journal of comparative and physiological psychological. 53:509-519
Ozigh, A. O. (1976). A Handbook on School Administration and Management Nigeria Macmillan.
Spinetta, J., and Rigler, D, (1972). The Child abusing parent. A psychological review. Psychological Bulletin. 77, 296-304.
Stone, L.J. and church, (1979). Childhood Adolescence.' A Psychology of the Growing Person. New York: Random House.
Tags: moral, development, Duties, Schools, National
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