A tough week for students and teachers

According to the Ministry of Education calendar, Tuesday 22 was the official start date for the end of term one examinations for secondary schools. First term 2011 is expected to end on Fools Day, Friday 1st April. As it is characteristic of many students across the globe, this is a feverish season for them. Some are in panic whereas others are jubilant about finishing the term to go home and relax. Many Senior One and Four students are attending boarding school for the first time in their academic lives. Many students are in a mad rush to peruse through a stack of notes that have accumulated in the course of the term. They have to master everything on their finger tips as they get ready to tackle exams. On the part of teachers, it is their work’s peak season. This is the time that they literary have to put red marks on every page penned by hundreds of students. Around this period, there are less staffroom jokes and negligible lateness for work. They have to mark, compile and enter all marks on report cards within a limited time frame. It takes students, teachers and schools administrators a lot of pain to evaluate students and produce academic reports. These reports are intended to be read by parents as major stakeholders in education. Schools have no option, but are obliged to give academic reports to all the stakeholders to keep them abreast with the progress of the education process. A parent who does not take time to study the academic report of a child is deprived of the chance to get vital information that can help them participate in charting the future path of their child. Often times, some parents and guardians are shocked to hear that their children have failed national examinations or have been asked to repeat some grades. No parent who follows up the academic progress of a child can be shocked about any academic outcome. There is a saying that; a good day is seen in the morning. Equally, a good student can be discerned from their first performance in school. When performance is not satisfactory, teachers, parents and school administrators should always put their heads together to unearth the root cause of the problem and correct any anomaly. When the causes of dismal performance among students are established early enough, correctional measures put in place are often more productive and meaningful. As students leave school to get home, it is important that parents check all the academic documents of their children to ensure that things like notes and textbooks are not dumped and lost at schools. There are students who think that everything ends with the end of term examinations. Failure of students to perform well in school is a product of a combination of factors ranging from laziness, low aptitude (low intelligence level), poor school attendance and indiscipline. All these, apart from low aptitude can be corrected when there is productive interaction between schools and all stakeholders. There is nothing much one can do about the low aptitude of a student. However, every learner has a unique strength or talent that can be developed and molded for personal gain and success. znyamosi@yahoo.com