Give your dad the gift of education this Father’s Day...

How do you convince your dad to let you upgrade your car or your computer or whatever else you simply must upgrade sooner than you can say the word soon?

You don’t. Upgrade your dad instead, says Natalie Rabson of Boston City Campus and Business College. “We’re not talking about trading dad in, for a younger cooler dude who buys you everything your heart desires when your heart desires it,” she points out.

“We will be celebrating Father’s Day later on this month and you can help your Dad learn something new and upgrade himself.”

Many dads are jack-of-all-trades and fix-it-all at home. But they also face immense pressure in a society that expects them to shine both as fathers and as workers. The role of children rearing and contributing to household duties that were traditionally the domain of a stay at home have long become part and parcel of modern father’s existence. Fathers work hard.

So before you reach for a new colorful tie or supersized coffee mug for work as a Father’s Day present, Rabson suggests you consider different gift altogether – give your dad the opportunity to learn something new this year. “Not much time is left for dad to learn something new just for the pleasure of it,” she says. “Besides many a dad would feel too guilty to spend money on him; he would rather put the money towards his children’s education.”

She believes that many a dad would, however, gladly accept a gift from his children – and possibly Dad’s life partner or wife – that enabled him to enroll for a course. Such a course need not be directly related to his field of work, “she adds. “It would need to be something that he would be able to enjoy, would be able to do considering his talents and abilities, and that would ultimately add value to his life in general.

“It would also need to be a course that offers flexibility and convenience so that he can attend classes when it suits him and that doesn’t add to his drive time”. As Father’s Day is only at June 19, you can in the next few days probe his feelings about learning something new.

This way you can ensure you don’t spend money on something he is not interested in or commit him to something to something he truly does not have time for.

Also note that Dad doesn’t need to enroll for an entire course as he can opt to do only a module or two: many courses are modular and allow students who don’t want a complete qualification to study modules in a stand-alone fashion. It may come in handy for Dad to learn how to:

• Negotiate his way around the internet like a teenager – this would come useful in his personal life as well as his professional life. He may already have a basic understanding but needs to learn about the latest developments and tools available (which you probably don’t have the patience to teach him) Boston offers a short course aptly called “Understanding the Internet” which is aligned to SAQA unit standards.
• Review contact lists, set up digital diaries, organize folders and files and get familiar with short cuts that will allow him to work faster and more effectively. Depending on his computer literacy levels, he can choose one  of many accredited short courses at Boston such as MS Word, word processing advanced, and email to mention a few.
• Master the basics of how to start and run a small business successfully. Many Fathers dream of starting their own businesses one day and Boston has a course on entrepreneurship that is Fasset accredited. Dad may also choose do complete certain modules of the course only.
• Manage projects in half the time and twice the success. Project management skills are useful regardless of your dad’s occupation. Once again, Dad can enroll for a full qualification or simply do a few modules of this highly rated qualification. The choices are endless,” says Rabson. “Remember though to choose a course that Dad will appreciate and will be able to do and you’ll make this an unforgettable Father’s Day.”

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