An Introduction to Character Development Education for Secondary Schools in Africa

It is time to infuse more character consciousness into our social systems to meet the much needed leadership values. It is time to stand up against the hydra-headed monster known to us all as "Moral Degeneration" helplessly limiting our generation upcoming via their need for conformity with social life and trends. It is time we realise that skill and management which makes up 95% of our academic curriculum has failed to deliver unto us the maximum benefits of education - which is to produce graduands with educated minds. It is time we understand that character can and should be taught in schools to help students/teenagers with the capacity to make principle - centred judgment, choices and decisions that will help them through contemporary times. It is time we realise that "quality education" is more a function of the "character learning content" within the academic program; than the emphasis placed on skill and management subjects and academic environment. It is time we realise that only character/leadership knowledge develops the mind of a learner and inspires creativity; while our skill and management keeps our intellect developed. Institutions, Ministries of education, parents, and teachers in Africa must therefore understand that character development by far exceeds the parental advices given to their wards to promote their welfare/safety and acceptable social conduct; they must understand that character development education is much more about empowering a student/teenager with the capacity to make effective personal judgment, choices and decisions through the knowledge of the ethics and dynamics of his life (Practical dimensions of self-awareness).