THIS is the time of year that draws an enormous sense of anticipation out of parents and their children. In just a few it creates a sense of dread too and in some an overwhelming sense of their inadequacies.
People develop and evolve over their lives. To measure someone on a moment, a snapshot in November often proves an inaccurate assessment of that individual.
How many school failures become great successes later in life?
How many school successes never reach that potential expected of their 18-year-old selves?
I am a marker and moderator of many years' experience and I have just returned from a week in Johannesburg where I have spent my days guiding a team of markers in their assessment of the 12 500 IEB exam scripts written by the matric English students of our country that write under the auspices of the Independent Examinations Board.
There are a far greater number who write the National Senior Certificate (NSC) papers and both systems provide an astute and highly-credible assessment that is rigorous and demanding of both the students and the assessors.
Whenever I interview a new pupil I ask him/her to hold up their index finger. Being an English teacher by profession, I can't help but add some drama to the scene. I look very carefully at the finger that is being held up. I have no doubt that the young boy or girl and their parents at that point are wondering what I am up to. But what I am doing is drawing together a critically important message that everyone should be hearing.
After carefully scrutinising the digit, I remark “Yes, just as I thought. I have never seen a fingerprint just like yours… and I won't ever see one just like it again.”
You see everyone is an individual: priceless, precious, wonderful, unique, special and very, very dear to all those people who are associated with that child.
It breaks my heart when I read in the paper of the suicides that take place after the matric results are released. Every year, it's the same. Every year people measure their self-worth on the results of the examinations written over a month in November.
We aren't summed up by these marks. They don't represent who we are and while they are important. There are countless people who have risen to extraordinary successes on the back of dire scholastic performance.
We need to keep everything in perspective. Matric is important. Academics are vital and should be prioritised as the gold standard that all good schools do offer. It is vital that we acknowledge that not everyone will measure up to the success of the few in this matric gladiatorial arena.
If children enjoy school they will perform better. They will be encouraged to make the most of their opportunities. If they live in fear, as many do, of under-performing on the academic stage, then we do them a disservice. If we measure success on the benchmark of matric results, then we do a massive disservice to so many who will fall short of those expectations.
Children are special. Whether they get an “A” for AP Maths or an “E” for Life Science, each child is a priceless and unique individual who can make an invaluable contribution to the vast tapestry that makes up humankind.
To measure someone on what happens between the start and end of November of one's matric year is to critically underestimate human potential.
Children are special. No matter what marks they get.
Simon Crane is headmaster of Woodridge College and Preparatory School in the Eastern Cape