I dont know whether I am the only one finding this weird.
I have a couple of friends, relatives, neighbours, business associates, clandes and side kicks who had to skip or postpone crucial appointments because they had to attend their kids’ ‘graduation’ ceremony from nursery school to class one. An expensive bash then follows at home or at an upmarket hotel, some with a budget that would make a wedding committee chairman die of envy.
During our days, ‘graduating’ from primary to high school was not something to be celebrated, it was a MUST- there were no two ways about it. If you made it to campus, then a tea prayer meeting/party would be hastly organized in your honour and things would get back to nomalcy the very next day like nothing happened.
Hawa watoto kuna mahali wanaenda kweli? Why is it that only kids from nursery schools intending to join the 8-4-4 system schools like Wanja and Kim, Moi Avenue primary, Infill Academy etc, etc pampered like this and not the ones from kindergattens awaiting to be introduced to the GCE system schools like St Andrews, the Peponi’s and Greensteads?
Is it an inferiority complex that is slowly building in our middle class society who imagine that they have ‘reached’ and they feel they have provided the best education to their children for all to see?
NB: mimi niliingia class one siku ile mkono yangu ya right iliweza kushika maskio yangu ya left over my head. I had failed in 2 previous trials/recruitments at the same Nairobi City Council primary school.
It is even harder for someone like me who was brought up to no fanfare n pomp of any kind.
Nakuwa namba one all through Na tukifunga chuo napelekea mbuyu report form Na zile geometrical set Na vitabu nimepewa. Anafurahi. Kidogo kidogo anasema…naona utakula yai…si mayai…yes yai. I become happy. No society knows. Navua nguo and go for the egg.
Middle class problems. The mentality of everyone gets a trophy just for showing up will lead to very anxious, depressed, maladjusted teens and adults. This, coupled with our zest to embrace everything Western in order to appear like classy, middle class people who “got it together.” Anyway, in the West so many young adults end up committing suicide after getting their first C in college or a harsh performance review by their boss. Well adjusted kids know how to soothe themselves because their parents don’t coddle them. They were allowed to make (some) mistakes and learn from these experiences.
its the same trick face painting ballon carrying hawkers use, they deal directly with you kid. Mtoi akipewa ballon itabidi ununue. Those kindergatens do this then charge like 5k for the event
I agree that ku-graduate nursery ni upus. Lakini the reason that unapeana ati ‘In my day blah blah’ ni upus pia. Watoto hawafai kupitia ile upus wewe ulipitia unless inawaongezea maishani. Mambo ni kusonga mbele, as long as you aren’t spoiling them.
Those schools are capitalising on these so called graduations. Graduating to what? Do you know that the schools even charge for the gowns? If it was all about graduating, then those damn gowns would have been free for the occadsion since they are owned by the schools- dont you agree…?
As a young boy in boarding school I often wondered if other parents were jobless since they will be the first to arrive and last to leave while mine would come late (at least they visited) and be the first to leave citing work made them late and leave early.