Kristen Gyles | Parents, get involved!

Upon contemplation of the recently announced 2024 pass rates for some CSEC subjects, it is hard not to wonder how exactly it is that some students manage to pass their exams with flying colours while other students, some belonging to the same schools, fail miserably. Is the issue with the quality of teaching, the availability of teaching/learning material or a gradual shift to a ‘dunce and boasy’ culture which de-emphasises education?

All of the above. Another factor that is often underestimated, however, is the impact and reach of parental involvement in the learning process. Parental involvement (or the lack thereof) is a big part of the reason two students belonging to the same school, taught by the same teachers and subjected to similar resource constraints fare out so differently.

Recently, I tried to book an afternoon appointment with my hairstylist and immediately she said no. She let me know that for the next few months she would only be available in the mornings because her ‘baby’ was doing PEP. I became a little curious to know why that meant she no longer worked in the afternoons. The more I probed, the clearer the picture became. Every day, this mother had a busy after-school schedule including pickups and drop-offs to and from PEP extra-lessons and culminating in a revision session with her child to go over whatever material was covered during the day. At a point, she jokingly mentioned that she lives at the school.

Not every parent will be in a position to sacrifice half the day to help their child prepare for exams, but once an individual chooses to become a parent they should be willing to spend at least an hour with their child each day to ensure they are not just skylarking at school and that beyond that, they are actually grasping the material being taught.

USES GOOGLE

My hairstylist is not a Rhodes Scholar, but she told me that she uses Google where she needs to. Further, she has got extra help for her child, based on her assessment of her child’s academic needs. She is confident her child will do well, and frankly, based on the formula she is using, it would be surprising if he didn’t.

Regardless of a parent’s background, wealth or education level, once there is a will to facilitate learning, he or she will find a way. Unfortunately, the entirety of that responsibility is often left on the school system. Some parents send their children to school not only to learn academics but to be reared and nurtured with all the morals, values and ethics their grannies passed down to them decades ago during childhood. They literally rely on the school system to grow their children.

Also, while it shouldn’t be necessary to explain why schools are not daycare centres, many parents appear not to have grasped that although schools are institutions of learning, they are not the only places in which learning should take place.

A good mindset for a parent to have while their children are still young, is that learning is a lifelong journey. It need not end. Learning neither ends on the day of the final PEP exam, nor on the last day of CSEC or CAPE exams, nor on the last day of final exams at university. And regardless of whether one is enrolled in a formal educational programme, learning can still take place.

LEARN WITH THEM

Rather than simply sending the 11-year-old to school and leaving them to navigate the learning process all on their own, why not learn with them? Going through homework or doing projects together is a good way of not only demonstrating to the child that schoolwork should be taken seriously but it is also a good opportunity to refresh the mind with long forgotten knowledge which has gone through several rounds of updating since it was taught as a part of the ‘common entrance’ curriculum.

Instead of telling our children all manner of rubbish about how unimportant certain topics are and how they don’t matter in ‘real life’, instilling in them a flippant and carefree attitude towards school, why not help them master the concepts they are struggling to learn? Why not show them that school matters? And if school in fact doesn’t matter, why complain when the child fails half their exams?

Taking a hands-on and active approach to the learning process, as a parent, is the best way to ensure the children under our care achieve maximum success in their exams and is also the best way to help lay a firm foundation for the next stage of academia. It is also a great way for parents to leave ‘dunceness’ in the past. The ‘dunceness’ some parents pride themselves on exuding is being emulated by their children not only around the house but in school, where there should be no place for any affinity with ignorance and stupidity.

Parents are (typically… hopefully…) the first role models their children will ever have, so if they want their children to take school seriously, they must first take it seriously, model an appreciation for growth and learning and be willing to get their hands dirty in helping their children navigate their journey through school and exams. Parents, get involved!

Kristen Gyles is a free-thinking public affairs opinionator. Send feedback to kristengyles@gmail.com and columns@gleanerjm.com