PHOTO | JEWEL SAMAD | FILE US President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and their daughters Malia and Sasha board Air Force One. The girls are encouraged to write about what they have seen during foreign trips.  AFP

When US President Barack Obama arrived in Dakar, Senegal, on June 27 on the first leg of a tour of three African countries, his daughters Sasha and Malia were by his side.

Earlier last month, the girls accompanied their father on his official visits to Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Berlin, Germany.

While in Germany, the daughters and their mother toured the Berlin Wall and the Holocaust Memorial as Obama met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Later, the three found time to join U2 lead singer Bono for lunch at an Irish pub in Dublin, Ireland, before reuniting with the President in Belfast following the close of the G8 Summit. Last week, they visited Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania.
Sasha and Malia travel regularly with their dad on his official assignments and family vacations. The two have academic obligations — attending classes and writing assignments — but they also find time to do their bit-part role in globe-trotting.

Sasha, 12, has just finished sixth grade while Malia, 14, is a high school student. They both attend Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., one of America’s most exclusive schools that has been the academic home of many generations of presidents’ children like President Theodore Roosevelt’s son, Archibald, Richard Nixon’s daughter Tricia, Bill Clinton’s daughter Chelsea, and former Vice-President Al Gore’s son, Albert Gore III.
Before joining Sidwell Friends School, Sasha and Malia attended the private University of Chicago Laboratory School in Chicago, Illinois. At the time, their father was the junior senator from Illinois.

A look at American schooling schedules shows that Sasha and Malia ideally grab the opportunity to travel with their parents during the times when there is a break in the school term.

For instance, the school year has ended, and during summer break when students and teachers are typically on vacation between six and 14 weeks.

The Sidwell Friends School website shows the institution has been closed from early June; the new school year begins on Tuesday, September 3.

Still, the US President and First Lady have long maintained a commitment to allow Sasha and Malia to grow up as normally as possible, while being strict at the same time.

According to a New York Times article, one of the household rules that Michelle Obama has mentioned in interviews is that when the girls go on trips, they write reports on what they have seen, even if their school does not require it.
Further, technology is only used on weekends, so Malia may use her cellphone only then, and she and her sister cannot watch television or use a computer for anything but homework during the week.

In 2009, as President Obama called on parents to toughen their education standards, he confessed that Malia had recently got a 73 per cent mark on her science test.

He recounted how, a few years ago, she had come home with a grade in the 80s, believing she had “done pretty well”. He and his wife corrected her, telling her that their goal was “90 percent and up”.

“Even in our own household, with all the privileges, we have, there are times when the kids slack off. There are times when they would rather be watching TV or playing a computer game than hitting the books,” he said.

On their first day in Senegal, Malia and her mother spent the afternoon visiting an all-girls middle school. The high octane travel will continue for Sasha and Malia, at least for the next three-and-a-half years of their father’s presidency.

By the end of Obama’s tenure, Malia is expected to be in college and Sasha in high school.