A parent’s involvement in their child’s education has been seen to yield positive results all through, most importantly, enhancing their children’s academic performance as well as leaving a positive influence on their attitude and behaviour. This is what 13-year-old Kelly Mutesi, who recently passed the primary national examinations with flying colours, attributes her success to. Her parents, she says, were fully involved in her academic journey. The primary level finalist says she wasn’t always a star performer and used to perform poorly, especially in sciences, something that even affected her self-esteem. “I used to get as low as 36 per cent in many of the subjects, this changed my attitude towards school. My zeal to be in class also went down,” she says. Thankfully, she says, her parents were there to support her, even emotionally, and when she was about to join P6, they moved to Kigali from Nyagatare District where she joined Remera Academy II. They would wake her up early to do revision on a daily basis, and her father would help in areas that she found difficult. “This motivated me to put my all into it, and if it wasn’t for this, I wouldn’t have scored what I did in my final exams because I had already given up on performing well,” she says. Mutesi’s hard work paid off, and she scored aggregate 5, Division I. Her dream is to take on medicine as a career, specialising in paediatrics. “I have learned to work hard in life and my mission now is simple, to be among the girls who are excelling in sciences and making it to male-dominated fields,” she says. Jade Sibo, Mutesi’s father, says he started by creating time for her despite his busy schedule. They would then do homework together, check her papers to see what she scored and work on improving where it was needed. “I would also follow-up with teachers every week to know how far they had gone, and how they viewed her capability in class. Whenever I saw a decline, I would immediately consult the teacher on how to fix it,” he says. “Children grow every day, they need consistent guidance, and therefore, if parents give the responsibility to house-helps or coaches it might not work. Let’s give our all to our kids for the future generation to thrive,” he adds.
