Last week I was invited to deliver a back-to-school talk at the church where I worship in Belhar. I did, focusing on school matters.
The first point I made was that school matters. You need to go in order to develop the skills you will require in life to be a good person, citizen and parent. School is more than an unpleasant rite of passage. It is not inevitable, it is not mandatory, it is not compulsory. It is necessary.
Some children are exposed to what is called “home schooling”. It is an option in the light of the pathetic Outcomes-Based Education that has been our burden since 1994. We have moved towards a more content-based system, but there is a tendency towards overkill. We need a balance.
We must recognise parents as the first teachers, the first providers of adult intervention. Parents lay the foundation for good social behaviour. This puts in place the initial basis for a solid moral and ethical template that will last a life-time. The child whose parent is a trained teacher is doubly-blessed. Your parent is your teacher.
Your teacher, similarly, is also your parent. You must leave home knowing this. Often it is the teacher’s misfortune to have to rescue a child whose parents have sadly abdicated their basic responsibilities. As a logical extension, parents must not wait for periodic summonses from school for parent-teacher meetings. These are nice experiences for parents whose children perform and a
nightmare for those whose children don’t.
Learners, from Grade 0 right up to
tertiary level, should also think about their place in this system. It starts with
learning to take instruction. Parents teach you the do’s and don’ts of home behaviour.
Pick up the clothing you discard when you change. Wash your own breakfast utensil. After school, air your lunch box, wash your own socks, repack your bag for the next day. Recycle the foil in which your goodies were wrapped.
Set aside time for study, time for reading, time for talking about your day at school. Discuss career choices.
Make the experience a locus where parent-teacher-learner form a triangle (the sturdiest geometric construct) of improvement and achievement.
On another level, go into adoption mode. Adopt a pet, a pot plant, an older person to read to or run errands for. Find a friend who is good at a subject you are struggling with. Similarly, help a friend in a field where you shine.
Note that I have not demonised the technology that is so prominent in our lives.
There is enough time for your cell-phone, tablet or laptop. Use it to surf for interesting book titles. Start a discussion group.
Own the situation you are in. It can be life-changing for you and our beloved country.
* Literally Yours is a weekly column from Cape Argus reader Alex Tabisher.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Newspapers.