After an exhausting roller coaster of a year, this is what the Class of 2021 has learnt along the way. There is no doubt that last year was a challenging time for many. The matric Class of 2021 in particular was forced to adjust and re-adjust again, finding new ways to learn and maintain their academic performances. This feature is filled with helpful articles to further the success of our achievers. We salute the Class of 2021!

An education expert said it is essential that learners intending to study after high school attend as many open days as possible to ensure they make an informed study choice, but more than that, they need to go with a strategy in hand to ensure they look beneath the surface to understand what their likely experience may be at a particular institution
or campus.

As the name suggests, open days are essentially days when schools open their doors. It’s also when the school principal is available for questions when teachers get to showcase their classrooms, senior learners act as guides, and academic accomplishments are touted. Crimson Education offered some guidance for unsure parents on the process of open days.
There’s no doubt that these days are incredibly valuable resources in that they give you and your child an idea as to what their potential ‘second home’ looks and feels like. They also provide parents the chance to accumulate information beyond what is available in school documentation and on websites.

Open days are opportunities for parents to ask specifics about the educational records, sport and other extracurricular programmes, pastoral care, and community spirit.
That being said, there may be a few more important questions that are missing from the obvious. They should examine primary feeder schools and high-performing high school companions and a primary school’s educational record with their senior school options insight.
Some questions to ask:
• How diverse are the courses and universities your learners get into?
• Do you know how many of your learners drop out or transfer during university?
• What is your record for getting your learners into top universities – both domestic and international?
• How does your careers advisor support learners who may wish to pursue an education overseas?

The Department of Higher Education and Training urges the public to be wary of bogus colleges.
Now that matric results are out, colleges and universities will be doing all they can to attract as many students as they can to their campus. While many are legit and verified, there are some that are purely scams or are not registered and will result in non-credited qualifications.
To assist students and parents from being taken advantage of by such institutions, the department has provided details of all registered private colleges across the country. The website at the end provides information on all registered colleges, their address and contact details, registration number and their list of qualifications that are accredited.
The department pleaded with students to verify with them before registering with any private institution to avoid the pitfalls of registering with illegal colleges.

The department also warned students to be wary of the following kinds of behaviour from institutions:
• Consultants promising jobs after graduation.
• Consultants and websites offering two degrees for the price of one as well as huge discounts.
• Use of nomenclature to qualifications, for example, a Bachelor of Commerce degree is different from a Bachelor of Commerce in Financial Management degree
• Official-looking bogus colleges that use seals, crests and logos used by legitimate institutions such as the DHET, public universities and public colleges
• Exaggerated and numerous claims on accreditation in order to lend credibility to the college or institution
• The names of colleges are similar or identical to those of prestigious universities such as Oxford University and Cambridge University
• Application form is questionable in that it does not require information or proof of formal schooling, identity documents, etc
• Diplomas and degrees offered in a short period of time making it possible to receive several degrees in one year.
• The absence of a physical address for the legal entity called the institution or the awarding body.
• Local tuition centres purporting to offer ‘qualifications’ on behalf of ‘foreign’ and ‘international’ universities
• The continued and undue emphasis on ‘international accreditation’ and ‘international qualifications’.
To verify if an institution is registered, visit the following link www.bit.ly/3KHITP9 or call the department on 0800 87 2222.

Sarah Koning
sarahk@caxton.co.za

Anxiety is common among first-year university students as they embark on an exciting and daunting new journey.
Operations manager and social worker at Family Life Centre, Joshna Lutchman said some common anxieties might include questions such as: Am I going to fit in? Will I be able to adapt to a different learning style? Will I be able to make new friends and engage in healthy relationships with peers and lecturers? Will I be successful in my course? Will I cope on my own without my family?
Lutchman encouraged new students to remain calm and allow themselves to get familiar with the new life they were now embarking on.
“While things may seem strange and unfamiliar at first, you will get through this just as you have gone through many other obstacles in your life before. Get enough sleep, go to sleep with a positive quote/motto that inspires you every day and you will wake up in a positive mindset.” She advised new students to accept that not everything was in their control. “All you have to do is be patient with the process, but most importantly with yourself.” She advised students to exercise wisdom for the beginning of their adult journey. “Create a balance between your studies and recreation. Choose friends that uplift you and support your beliefs. Be assertive and confident to pursue your desired career. Take care of yourself mentally and physically.

“Don’t be afraid of seeking help and always ask questions about things you do not understand.”
She urged those who feel overwhelmed to talk to someone, be it a friend, counsellor or pastor.
The Family Life Centre has specialised and professional counsellors who are there to help. Reach out to them on 011 788 4784, email intake@familylife.co.za or WhatsApp 065 802 4573.

Sarah Koning
sarahk@caxton.co.za

The start of the new school year can often bring up a host of anxieties among parents and children alike.
Social worker at the Family Life Centre in Parkwood, Belinda Gruenbaum offered advice on how to manage these emotions and ensure smooth transitions.

Gruenbaum provided the following advice to parents with children starting school for the first time:
• Make an effort to recognise this milestone in your child’s life and make your child feel proud
• Acknowledge your child’s feelings,whether they be fear, anxiety or excitement. Don’t underestimate the importance of your child feeling heard in this transition
• Change can be overwhelming. Take it one step at a time
• The number of things that need to be prepared beforehand can feel insurmountable. Make a to-do list and prioritise the most important tasks, ticking them off as they are accomplished
• Get your child accustomed to a routine, a week before they begin school to make the transition easier. Establish bath, bed, meal and homework time.
Some fears parents may experience at this time include: that your child will struggle to adapt to a new routine, that your child may not like school or make friends, that your child may struggle with the workload or that they may be exposed to Covid-19 and get very ill as a result.
“The best way one can deal with these fears is to acknowledge them but remain calm and level-headed. Provide the necessary practical and emotional support. Maintain an open relationship with the child in which they will feel safe to express their feelings regarding their new experiences, whether they be positive or negative.”

Covid-19 has heightened parents’ fears around the transition to school.
Gruenbaum advised the following to give parents peace of mind regarding theirchild’s safety at school:
• Ensure all precautionary measures are taken
• To reduce the anxiety of your child, focus on things that are within your control e.g. masks, hand-washing etc. Remind them that the pandemic and other people’s actions are outside of their control
• Limit exposure to social media within your household as news can heighten fear
• Speak about coping strategies and provide your child with examples of how to handle anxious feelings
• Encourage regular short breaks during homework time and encourage outdoor play as far as possible.
• Check in with your child about how they feel
• If your child is sick, rather keep them at home.

What do Bill Gates, Sir Richard Branson, and Mark Zuckerberg have in common? They’re the founders of some of the world’s most successful companies – but yet none of them have a degree behind their name.
For many people, going to university is a choice that is taken for granted after they graduate from high school, but this isn’t necessarily the case for everyone. Finances or other logistics may prevent some students from enrolling, while others simply may not have the academic results required to secure a place. So, if university is not on the cards for your child, what are the alternatives?

Here are a few alternatives you and your teenager may want to consider:
Technical and Vocational Education and Training colleges
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges in South Africa offer specialist vocational training through fifty registered colleges on over 260 campuses around the country.

These colleges are operated by the Department of Higher Education and Training, so they’re highly subsidised, making them much more affordable than the cost of university tuition.

Specialist colleges
Has your child loved baking since they were five years old? Or maybe they’ve wanted to be a game ranger all their life?
If your child has a good idea of the kind of industry they’d like to work in, obtaining a diploma or certificate from a specialist education institution may be the right option for them.
In South Africa and abroad, your child can find specialist colleges in almost every industry sector they can think of, including tourism, hospitality, photography, culinary arts, business studies, IT, marketing, and agriculture.
Internships and learnerships.

One of the biggest challenges for a new university graduate is not being able to find work because they have no practical working experience.
This is where the concept of an internship – gaining work experience within a company without being paid, or while getting very basic remuneration – can be much more useful in getting the practical skills your child needs for the working world.

Similar to internships, learnerships are work-based learning programmes designed to gain work experience while training towards a qualification geared to a specific occupation, such as becoming a flight attendant, nurse, paramedic, or government employee.
These occupational learnerships form part of a nationally recognised qualification, and involve both theoretical and practical elements, under the helpful guidance of a mentor.

Both internships and learnerships allow the person to get a feel for the industry they will work in, as well as forge relationships and network with key individuals who could help them further their career. Either way, the learners will be able to get references that can help make them much more appealing to potential future employers when that time comes.

Andile Dlodlo
andile@caxton.co.za

There are problems, challenges and difficulties that make learning and mastering maths a journey that many learners give up on.
Wits University associate professor of mathematics education Craig Pournara said there were many different reasons why learners struggled in this crucial subject and this needed to be recognised by learners, teachers, parents and education officials.

He said, “Some learners have difficulty with maths from Grade 1 but for many, the problems likely start when they are introduced to fractions in the Intermediate Phase. However, the learners, their parents and their teachers may not realise it at this stage.” Pournara is also the director of the Wits Maths Connect Secondary project, a research and development project. He has noticed that learners did not don’t have a good enough grasp of whole numbers and arithmetic operations on whole numbers.
He said there was too much focus on getting the right answer and not enough focus on the relationships between the numbers when you add, subtract, multiply, or divide, which leads to similar problems with fractions and decimals etc.

“Learners need to have a good understanding of whole numbers in order to cope with algebra in grades 8 and 9. So many of the struggles with algebra can be traced back to primary school work on whole numbers.”
Having taught mathematics and information technology in high school, Pournara has seen and worked through some of the gaps in the knowledge these learners have when it comes to maths.

“The high school maths curriculum is too full and so goes too fast for many learners. Many learners come to high school without a good enough understanding of the basics. Their high school teachers don’t have enough time to consolidate the basics before moving onto the new content such as negative numbers and algebra.” He believed that we needed to rethink some aspects of the curriculum if we wanted to help learners address such problems.

Andile Dlodlo
andile@caxton.co.za

There are a number of things parents and teachers can do to help children overcome matric disappointment. The learners of the matric Class of 2021 need their support structures more than ever with many not performing the way they hoped for and others failing.

This is according to educational psychologist and Wits University senior lecturer Dr Simangele Mayisela, who stated that there is a role for both teachers and parents to support such learners through this time.
Mayisela prefers that such support starts long before their children’s final school year. “Parents need to be there for the matriculants, not only after failing, but the journey of supporting the child should start long before the matric class.

“The close support would gain the parents an understanding of their child’s strengths and weaknesses, so they would know what support to give.”
Parents can assist by supporting, encouraging, helping and staying interested in the child’s pursuit of their career path after matric by conversing often about it and sharing in their future dreams.
Teachers in high schools can also make a difference in the mindset of learners who didn’t achieve as well as they would have liked.
Dr Mayisela said, “Teachers are even in better positions to offer informed knowledge and guidance on career advice, and they can also help the learners pursue professional career assessments where possible.”

Mayisela added, “Teachers in schools need to provide support and knowledge as early as in Grade 10, building up from the previous grades.
“Teachers are often observant of any behaviour change and even a slight drop in academic performance of the learner that they may identify symptoms of distress to prevent the development of serious mental breakdown.”

Andile Dlodlo
andile@caxton.co.za

Covid-19, stress and social pressures have an impact on school learners.
The matric Class of 2021 has had one of the most challenging journeys in completing their studies. After facing the Covid-19 pandemic for two years straight, they were able to come out the other side with many of the smiling but at what cost.

Wits University senior lecturer and educational psychologist Dr Simangele Mayisela pointed out various factors that impacted school learners which included the pandemic, social and academic pressure, balance your social and academic needs and more. “At the beginning of this pandemic, its end was unpredictable which made even short term planning a challenge, affecting the ability to set goals and focus.
“To abate its transmission and its spread, human socialisation was drastically and instantly stopped during the Level 5 lockdown.”
This resulted in very little class attendance but those in the middle class were able to achieve their learning goals due to online learning, those without suffered even more.

According to Mayisela, due to the fact that matric learners are adolescents, their psychological and social development thrives from socialising and mingling with others of their age. This was significantly minimised as they did not physically attend school for large portions of the last two years.

“The Covid-19 regulations denied them access to their friends, which for some it may have been experienced as a detention. Though the use of social media platforms became the release for the tension experienced from the physical and social interaction restrain, the isolation and the fear of death associated with socialising lead to anxiety and depression.”

Additionally, and even more devastating, was the loss of life learners experience by their families, friends and potentially even teachers.
Apart from the pandemic, matric on its own is extremely stressful stated Mayisela. “It is usually accompanied by fear of not meeting the requirement for admission to a higher education programme of choice, and not meeting the social expectations.” There is also the need to maintain a balance between focusing on studying and negotiating social relations outside of family bonds.

“Resisting negative influence such as being lured to drug use is also a challenge for most of the urban youth along with home conditions, such as single-parent homes, with low income or no income, domestic responsibilities competing with school work, are lived realities for some matriculants in South Africa.”

Andile Dlodlo
andile@caxton.co.za

It’s not all doom and gloom if your didn’t receive the matric results you had hoped for. Educational psychologist Dr Simangele Mayisela has encouraged learners who didn’t achieve their desired outcome in their 2021 National Senior Certificate Examination to stay optimistic. With many different pressures and stresses facing the matric Class of 2021, it is understandable that they didn’t get the marks they were hoping for. Mayisela explained, “It may sound cliché, that I would say be positive and courageous, success is on its way coming from another path, but you get on the way to meet it.”
She asked learners and families to take a step back and ask themselves what the need to pass matric is all about.

“Passing [matric] is a long-standing rite of passage for a young person toward independence, and there is an innate volition to be independent. Since the matriculants do not exist in space, but in a context constituted by family and school, peers and the community with members who have been through matric. Thus, this journey toward that independence is not just an individual process, but shared by all.”

She added that getting through matric has generally been framed with reference to a particular age, which may have certain social implications should it not be achieved within the first 12 years of schooling.
The financial conditions at home might also be a pushing factor for a learner to pass matric. According to Mayisela, some families might be desperately awaiting this first generation matric to make it for the family to be rescued from poverty.

She concluded, “Given all of the above stated conditions, not passing matric will come at a big price emotionally, mentally and even physiologically, not to mention spiritually, especially if the matric believes they have fully applied themselves during the exams.”