Following the closure of schools in Kigali and some parts of the country as part of the efforts to control the spread of Covid-19, candidate students in boarding schools stayed at school to prepare for the upcoming national exams.
The decongestion of schools will certainly give these candidates access to school facilities with the ease of observing Covid-19 guidelines, and hence a conducive reading environment. This gives them extra chances of performing well.
In contrast, day scholar candidates have been advised to stay at home and revise from there. This was inevitable given the surge in the number of Covid-19 new infections.
Studying from home, especially when one is preparing for the national exams—arguably the most critical occasion for all students—comes with its own challenges.
But there are ways to navigate through the obstacles, and here are some five tips on how to do so.
1. Have a daily plan
It is important for candidates to have a well-planned schedule for revision, stick to that routine like they do at school and waste no time during the day, says Vincent Nsengiyumva a Geography Teacher at Groupe Scholaire Catholique Nyabihu.
"Candidates should be waking up early like they used to when they are going to school, and revise when it is still early before they get any distractions during the day. Parents should make sure their children are revising and following the schedule they have planned.”
2. Create virtual discussion groups
Revising alone can be hard, especially a subject that a student does not understand well, Nsengiyumva says. And therefore, he adds, students staying home can consult their neighbours and put together revising materials and discussions.
However, since physical meetings and unnecessary movements are prohibited in order to avoid the spread of Covid, students can take advantage of virtual platforms such as zoom to discuss. Other platforms like WhatsApp can also be leveraged on to exchange ideas for academic purposes.
3. Use the internet to access revision materials
There are many revision materials available online for revisions on different subjects, said Albertine Mukamabano a science teacher at Nyagatare Secondary School.
"We have platforms like the one of Rwanda Education Board where you can find every reading material on every subject, tests, past papers that were published and also interact with teachers in case of any issue, also there are apps that can help you in revising and better arranging your reading materials, candidates should use these in the remaining time before exams” she added.
4. Restrict the time spent on electronic gadgets for social issues
Though gadgets like laptops are essential to access education materials especially when candidates are home, it is important to supervise candidates when they are using them, said Jean Marie Kizungu the Director of Studies at APACOPE.
"With easy access to internet some students might easily be distracted while using these apps and start using social media or other apps instead of studying, we encourage all parents to strictly supervise the use of these gadgets, they can limit the time they use them or just give them like a few hours to use them in consulting teachers, or their colleagues then after keep them and let the candidates revise with their full attention.” he added.
5. Focus on what you already have
Candidates should focus on what they have already covered, said Betty Mukashema, an English Teacher from Mother Mary School Complex.
"In terms of curriculum coverage, candidates from primary school have covered what they already needed to cover, they should focus on that, revise everything well with the help of their parents or guardians because questions from the National Exams will come from what they studied and nothing else,” she said.
Exams schedule
Primary candidates are due to sit their exams from July 12-14, O-Level, A-Level (theory) and TVET (theory) from July 20-27. A-Level science practical exams will be conducted from July 28-30. In total, 452,053 candidates are set to do national exams.