Discipline is bedrock to success – Alhaji Tanko

Discipline is the bedrock of every success in life, it can be considered at one level as the deliberate action to regulate behaviour or the ability to control oneself or other people, even in challenging circumstances.

In the context of the school system, a disciplined student is one whose behaviours, actions, and inactions conform to the predetermined rules and regulations of the school.

This was delivered in a keynote address by Alhaji Ibrahim Tanko, (a PhD Candidate) in charge of the Accra branch of Nabia, at the 5th Nabia Co-Sponsored Speech and Prize Giving Celebration, held at the Macdonald Hall at Navrongo in the Upper East Region.

Alhaji Tanko stated that discipline encompasses the ability to make the ‘right rules’ that support the achievement of its purpose and objectives, help students understand and abide by these rules, and enforce compliance without fear of favour. Regarding the way forward Alhaji Tanko said there is a need for a holistic approach to tackling the cause of indiscipline in the various schools, saying there is the need to integrate civic education, parental responsibility and an improved and effective school management system.

This he added can build self-confidence and self-discipline in students.

Alhaji Tanko admonished the students to be motivated by their goals, which he stated will be their set targets to achieve higher success in the future. The second is to recognise and remove temptation or barriers or habits that prevent concentration on studies.

He further explained that institutions should not be blamed totally for students’ indiscipline, but parents have a significant role to play. He said discipline starts at home before school.

He narrated a story of discipline, and setting standards when he visited a family in Denmark and during meal time at the table, the family enquired about pictures from Ghana.

Alhaji Tanko said he pulled his mobile phone from his pocket to show them the pictures, but their 5-year-old boy told him that, phones are not allowed on the table during meal time. He expected that the boy’s father would have shut him up, but, the father kept quiet after all that was the standard set and the child knows it.

In another instance, he added that a school in Denmark again made a presentation of a pullover to him, having received it and the Headmaster asked that he should wear it.

He said there was a small price tag on the back of it, he pulled it out, quizzed and drop down, and then one of the students picked it up and dropped it in the dustbin. Alas! Embarrassing as an adult right? He felt like vanishing into the thin air.

If the standards are set right at the beginning, both parents and institutions can regulate the behaviour of the youth (students) in our society, Alhaji Tanko posited.