Should Your Child Go to a BOARDING SCHOOL?

IMAGINE that you live in a small town in a developing country.  You have several children in primary school, but at the age of 12, they will progress to secondary school. In your area, secondary schools are overcrowded, ill-equipped, and poorly staffed. Strikes sometimes close the schools for weeks and months at a time.

Someone hands you a brochure that describes a boarding school in the city.  You see pictures of happy, smartly dressed students, studying well-equipped  classrooms,  laboratories, and libraries.  The student peer into computers  and relax in dormitory rooms. You read that one of the aims of the school is to help pupils "achieve the highest academic standard of which they are capable." You further read:  "All pupils are  required to abide by a code of behavior similar to that normally expected within a family where emphasis is given to courtesy, politeness, respect for parents and elders, co-operation, tolerance, kindness, honesty and integrity."

A smiling young man is quoted as saying: "My parents gave me the privilege of a lifetime to attend the best school." A girls says: "School is challenging and exciting. Here learning comes naturally."  Would you send your son or daughter to such a boarding school? 

Next time: Education and Spirituality

From the Watchtower magazine, 1997