Exams: Everyone’s responsibility

Glen Dhliwayo Cool Feature
Ever wondered why exam results are announced on radio when they are out? The reason is because general results are a national interest, besides the obvious reason of alerting the students that their results are out. Even those who do not have children or siblings that wrote exams are anxious to hear the outcome of the examinations.
But then why do we not show this very serious interest in examinations before and during the writing of results, only to show up when at the finishing line?

Again, I think this speaks to some of the wrong practices in our country, a predominantly reactive approach. It is visible in most sectors of our life as a nation. When our national teams fail to qualify for a major tournament, that is when everyone begins to speak of what went wrong and what could be done. Have you noticed?

Well the education sector is not spared from this practice or attitude at all. Last year people poured out their frustrations after a very dismal national pass rate was announced. But maybe the question is, was no one noticing all the wrongs they mentioned upon hearing the poor pass rate? Don’t bother scratching your head to find the answer to that rhetoric question. They noticed but as always waited to react when things go wrong.

However, it should not be like that! It is very clear from the attention and coverage exam results receive, that they are a national concern. This implicitly means that we either fail as a nation or we pass as a nation. When results are announced, we are not only evaluating the students that sat for exams but we are also evaluating more importantly our collective performance as a nation.

Though time might be fast running out, there is need to point out the responsibility of some stakeholders so that they know and play their role in this almost complete exam season, and those to come.

Students
This is, of course, the most clearly stressed role. The students themselves are supposed to immerse themselves in their studies and put their best efforts. This includes attending lessons, personal studies and engaging in group discussions with peers. The student perhaps has another equally important role that is seldom mentioned and that is liaising with other people (stakeholder in this article) in order to make their role easier. A complete student is one who knows what they need and who can help them achieve their goal. Students should realise that they are in a whole system so intelligence will also be reflected by how they will be able to marshal the resources and people around them in order to succeed.

Government and local authorities
Government usually plays the role of formulating, directing and implementing policies. But we will not dwell on the technicalities of the role but speak about the simple things that confront us on a day to day business. Government must ensure that students get quality education. They can do so by prioritising education in the budgets, making sure the teachers stay in schools, providing books in schools, building and maintaining functional libraries to mention just some of the responsibilities.

Parents
Most parents have released themselves from the role of rearing their own children as reflected by the performance of their children. Education is effective if it is received both in school and at home. At times it is difficult for teachers to start teaching students new habits that they do not learn from home. However, most parents are increasingly detaching themselves from their children’s education, a wrong attitude fostered by many modern pressures on them. Parents must ensure children are attending schools, some of them actually have truant children but they do not even know. They should regularly evaluate the performance of their children together with them. They are also expected to consult with teachers on how they can possibly help the student perform better. They also have to provide all resources necessary for their children to participate. Finally, parents are supposed to play the biggest role of motivating and inspiring their children.

Teachers
Teachers are the ones who are mostly held accountable for children’s performance. In order to achieve their goal, teachers must have a passion that is beyond money to ensure that they help students. They must take interest in all their students’ performances and regularly have one on one talks with students when necessary. Teachers must also be able to notice when a student trajectory is declining and analyse why it is so, then help the children with remedial tips to get back on track.

There are so many other stakeholders like the media, religious groups and communities that are responsible in ensuring students perform well in exams. You are certainly one of them. Find out your responsibility and play your role so that we all pass as a nation!

Till next week, God bless you all!

Ciao . . .

The writer is a motivational teacher. He can be contacted on [email protected]