Every parent wants the best for their children. That’s why we insist that we want to give them a “good foundation” by taking them to good schools. Good schools are mostly expensive.
But what the hell does a good foundation mean? If you ask most parents this question, they will get startled and wonder why you are asking such an obvious question. And if you insist on an answer, they will transform to politicians and give you a long statement that is neither here nor there.
But if you dig deeper and cut through the verbiage you will realize that the good foundation we talk about is the ability to display some “fine” mannerisms. So, if we were to be honest, we take our children to expensive schools so that they can learn to speak fluent English and attend some swimming lessons twice a term.
Really, what is the difference between five-year-old with a good foundation and one without. If you push both of them, will the one with a good foundation remain steady on the ground? Does the one in an expensive school help the parents with paying school fees? Or is a good foundation equivalent to a good future?
What are we paying extra for?
When we take a taxi instead of a matatu we undertand why we pay more. When you go to an expensive restaurant, you know why you pay 150 bob for a mandazi that you can get at 5 bob from the street vendor in your neighborhood.
We pay more for selfish reasons: Convenience, Luxury, Status.
But why is it that when it comes to our children, we pretend that we are sacrificing for them. That we have their interests at heart when we are taking them to expensive schools.
We can agree that your five-year old does not care if she is fluent in English or Bukusu. The kid is not even interested in playing sudoku. But we insist that we are sacrificing, paying extra, to give them a good foundation.
But really, we do it because we want to assure ourselves that we have “arrived”. And to send a signal to our neighbours and friends that we can keep up. We take them to expensive schools so that they don’t embarrass us when we are in the midst of people we want to impress.
Which is Okay.
But we can’t admit it to ourselves.
Life is life
Fabio