Students and Summer Vacation [Archives:2000/29/Last Page]

Ismail Al-Ghabri
Yemen Times
Many students impatiently await the summer vacation that implies the end of worries and efforts spent in studying and examinations. It simply means comfort and fun for them. However, they soon find out that there are certain things hindering their desired plans. This, in fact, can be attributed to the following reasons:
1- Many schools think that their tasks are confined to looking after students only during the study terms.
2- Family members’ ignorance of the importance of exploiting the summer vacation properly. This is more found among families of illiterate parents who can not properly direct their children to take advantage of this period fruitfully. Giving free rein to children may produce regrettable results. Being free and having nothing to do, they may be allured to bad guys abandoning themselves to bad habits such as smoking, eve teasing in the streets, or taking to drinks… etc.
3- Lack of educational, cultural, technical centers in which students can spend their leisure times doing useful things.
4- Lack of public libraries, over and above the youths’ ignorance of the importance of reading .
5- Insufficient role of media with regard to raising the students’ awareness of the significance of proper utilization of the summer vacation.
6- Absence of coordination between the authorities concerned, i.e., Ministries of Youths and Education. They only occasionally cooperate. Each one looks after its own internal affairs.
7- Qat sessions and computer games halls which allure many youths.
8- As far as girls are concerned, they spend their leisure times either watching TV or loitering around streets without trying to benefit themselves by doing profitable jobs.
9- Lack of awareness about the value of time among society members, in general and youths in particular. We in Yemen, are unable, or unwilling to realize the importance of time and how to exploit it to make positive achievements.
10- There are centers for teaching the Holy Quran. However, these, unfortunately, do not propagate enough for their activities. As such, many parents remain ignorant of the positive results their children can gain from such centers.
11- Languages and computer teaching institutes require high fees that some families can not afford. The result of this is always the refusal of parents to enroll their children in these institutes.
12- Sports clubs do not give the cultural side its due attention.
In developed and advanced countries, more attention is paid to youths and their demands. They work hard to create the suitable atmosphere for youths to benefit from their abilities and energies. Unfortunately, in Yemen, understanding of the importance of this section of society seems to be conspicuous by its absence.

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