POLOKWANE – To find out you failed a grade and will have to repeat it the next year can be daunting. The reality is that some children have to pick up the pieces of a lost year and watch their friends advance to the next grade without them. This can be a sensitive time and has to be dealt with cautiously.
Cecilia Mabunda, a teacher with over 20 years of experience, works with high school learners and explained how the role of the parent during this time is crucial and that it can affect the outcome of the next academical year.
“As a parent, it is important to ensure your child knows that it is not the end of the world. In order to do better in the next year, you must go back and trace where the child went wrong and work towards changing that,” she said.
Mabunda added sometimes a child might get a feeling of disappointment and anger. At times, she said, tough questions need to be asked and answered honestly. “Find out if the problem was that they did not study enough and spent too much time on their phone, or if there were any personal issues that could have affected the child’s focus in class or sometimes it might simply be a lack of interest in the schoolwork,” she added. According to her, parents should have open channels of communication with their child, as well as their teachers so they can act swiftly if their child loses focus in class.
To repeat a grade is a second chance to do things right and this can be done through commitment to schoolwork. “This also means to surround yourself with people who want to progress and do well in school as well. Be active in class, ask questions if you don’t understand or else you will be left behind,” she advised the children.
