The Commissioner for the National Secretariat for Patriotism Corps, Hellen Seku has encouraged parents to regulate children’s access to the internet to ensure that they don’t rely on it for knowledge.

Seku said one of the core values of patriotism is to love and attain knowledge, but most Ugandans below 40 years refer only to the internet for knowledge. She said whereas this is good and commendable, learners need to also visit libraries and read books.

“The Internet is for everyone you cannot differentiate the correct and the wrong. However it’s upon our patriots and parents to guide the children on what type of knowledge they should acquire”, said Seku.

Seku made the remarks on Thursday while officiating at the pass out of 830 student patriots of Ntare School in Mbarara City who have been undergoing patriotism training for eight days.

Seku who is also the Presidential Assistant Private Secretary on Youth Affairs indicated that the patriots also need to love the environment. She decried the deforestation in various parts of the country, especially in Zombo District where there is mass destruction of trees for charcoal.

She encouraged the learners to plant edible trees which later can be used to harvest money and also protect the environment.

The Headteacher of Ntare School, Saul Rwampororo said that the students were taken through a replica of the training at the National Leadership Institute in Kyankwanzi.  He appreciated the President for coming up with this initiative saying that it will help in grooming responsible and corrupt-free citizens.

The State Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Balaam Barugahara Ateenyi advised students to desist from the habit of escaping from school which could result in alcohol consumption and smoking.

Mbarara City North Deputy Resident City Commissioner Jacqueline Kakunda encouraged the students to become teachers and also join the police force and army.

Kakunda had earlier asked the students what professions they would want to be in the future. The students said that they preferred to be Doctors and Engineers.

Kakunda acknowledged that teachers and soldiers are the most patriotic in the country and appealed to the government to invest more in patriotism.

The government has since revealed that effective this year, all S6 leavers will undergo compulsory patriotism training for at least three months, according to the proposal that was initiated by the National Patriotism Secretariat.