Celebrate but . . .

Charles Dube
I AM aware that this could be belated advice but as the saying goes, it is better late than never. Some people might not take kindly to opinions expressed thereof, however, if the cap fits you wear it. Enjoy the festive season but do not forget future obligations. No doubt there is a lot of expenditure when people celebrate at this time of the year. They deserve it and no one begrudges that as long as they have contingent plans regarding the future.

All this is said with pupils in mind. When schools close for the December holidays, it is tools down with most students. They do not want to hear anything concerning books. They are too tired for books — this is true in most cases. They would have worked hard to pass their final examinations at the end of the year. What they forget is that not all of them would have done well in their examinations. Those who have not done well would not have done so deliberately or by choice.

Some are slow by nature and catch up issues later than others. At their own pace they excel to the amazement of many. This is the type of student who needs to constantly visit his books even at such times of merry-making. It is not out of place to study even at this time of the year. Students need to stand their ground even under pressure from peers because to neglect one’s studies because friends say it is unnecessary would be academically suicidal.

People use different methods to study and it would be unwise for somebody to be misled. Students make it appear like it is taboo to hear one talking of studying for the coming year. It seems as if it is documented somewhere that students should not study during the festive season. Thumbs up to those who study during this time, they will be rewarded in a big way. When the new term starts they are lively compared to those who would be trying to recharge their batteries. Slow learners would have caught up with others.

Parents’ role
Where do students get this negative view of totally forgetting about school during the holidays? I can hear somebody quickly blaming teachers for not giving students holiday assignments. This is a very true assumption at times but we should also not forget that students tackle those assignments a few days before schools open or on the night before schools open. Parents could just assist on this one by showing interest on what their children do at school.

They can do that by asking for their children’s report cards the moment they arrive home from school on closing days. Having checked the reports they could also ask about any holiday assignments from school so that children see that the school and parents are united in their education. But most of the time parents do not bother checking the stated documents and issues from their children. When children realise such a casual approach to their education from parents, they take advantage and relax.

The negative effects of such an attitude will manifest themselves on the poor performance of the child. When a student’s academic performance deteriorates, she or he resorts to indiscipline both at home and school. Parents are taken by surprise when this happens, yet they should have seen it coming when they surrendered their duty of monitoring the performance of their child. It’s wrong to surrender all control of your child to school. Management of students should be a combined effort between school and parents.

When one looks at it closely, all this neglect of school work during the holidays stems from parents. While there are a considerable number of parents who take care of their children’s needs for the coming academic year, the majority wait for the last minute. One notes a few parents buying uniforms and stationery before the end of the year while poor planners would be merry making. All the available money would be spent on luxuries.

Come January synonymous with broke people, one hears of “January disease”. This is an annual cry and we do not seem to learn from it. Things do not tally as people fail to pay for their children’s fees. They engage heads of schools negotiating payment plans. But out of all these people should aim at paying Form One fees in full. It is embarrassing for a child to start Form One with insufficient fees. Schools do not trust such parents and foresee problems going forward. Such parents would always negotiate for more time to pay fees.

All this money could have been there but prioritisation might have been the problem. The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) has constantly reminded us carefully but we have failed to take heed. There is talk of liquidity crunch but at times we have let ourselves down. Parents are also guilty of underrating their children especially those at Grade 7.

There is laxity in assisting children select schools for Form One. If children have not been performing well all along from lower grades, it does not necessarily mean that is the end of everything — therefore they will fail their Grade 7 examinations and can therefore be sent to any school. Parents do not assist children to apply early for Form One places. Come the last minute and children surprise their parents and pass their examinations extremely well.

Parents panic and dash to look for places at schools which could have fully enrolled. Some parents fail to accept that their children cannot be taken in. They try to use even the most unorthodox means to bulldoze and have their children accepted. It is quite embarrassing to hear some trying to use their political connections or their positions at their work places. They forget to follow protocol and fall short of reason to see that if everybody were to act as they do we would have chaos everywhere.

Parents should organise themselves and plan their things when there is still time than embarrass themselves running around at the last minute. There is this tendency to rush for a few schools because of their high repute. Fine but what people should remember is that such schools cannot accommodate everybody. The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education encourages parents not to shun schools around them. Well said, a school is a school even if it is in the remotest part of Zimbabwe.

Many people in influential positions today had their education in remote areas shunned by most of us today. Nowadays we have students who believe no learning can take place when there is no computer. Perhaps they are justified because they have those resources, but there are some students who have made it having appreciated computers from pictures only. Some people can argue that we cannot boast about passing examinations through difficult conditions instead of striving for development.

However, the point is parents should not get agitated if their children fail to secure places at certain schools. Whose child should be sacrificed to accommodate theirs? They should accept failure. The motto is: “You win some and lose some”. Parents should desist from using unwarranted threats to secure places for their children. They should stop blaming schools for low performance without offering solutions.