Scoring A’s – Is it the final goal?

Examination is the end of the line of a student’s education in an institute of learning. The result is supposed to be the indication of success or failure. Can the result of ONE examination be considered as the ultimate criteria of success or failure in education? There are many subjects to be learned. A student who is weak in a particular subject does not make him a failure. Evaluations are done in schools many times throughout the year. Each assessment or evaluation is done in order to know how much of the knowledge imparted to the students is understood or acquired by the students. It is from these assessment and evaluations that we get to know the level of achievement and knowledge acquired by each student. Through these assessments and evaluations teachers are able to plan remedial lessons for the weak students. Parts of knowledge or lessons that have been taught that has not been acquired by a student will be taught again as reinforcements. By the end of the week these weak students should have acquired all the skills and knowledge that they have not acquired during their previous lessons. The main objective of the Kurikulum Baru Sekolah Rendah ( KBSR ) is that all students have mastered the basic 3R skills by he end of Phase One ( Year 1 – Year 3 ) of their primary education. The Ministry of Education have introduced the KBSR programme in 1983 and it has never been terminated or abolished ever since. It is through the KBSR programme that the students are taught in groups of the same level of achievement. The bright and fast learners are placed in a group by themselves with higher skills and more challenging exercises given to them whereas the others are given exercises according to their level of achievement. Thus all students are given the opportunity to acquire the skills taught at their own pace and level of achievement.

Parents nowadays are obsessed by the idea of Scoring A’s in every examination their child sits. So much so that, most children nowadays do not have the time that they should be enjoying as children. Gone are the days where we use to have ample time to explore our childhood world. We do have time to play games with our friends in the fields. Today, it is time for tuition classes. Children of today will have to get up as early as 5.30am to get ready for school. They get back from school by 2.00pm, then they have to get themselves ready for their tuition class and will only be back home by 6.00pm. After dinner, comes the time to finished homework given by teachers. Mind you, at times the homework given is a lot. Well, the child has to endure these so as to Score A’s as required by their parents. A child will not be able to score an A unless he or she “wants to”. It is not a matter of “have to”. We have to make the child understand why he or she should score an A. We have to make them have the urge and determination to score an A. The child have to say “ I want to score an A”.

Leaving everything to the teachers to develop the urge and need in a child to be excellent in education is a big mistake a parent can do. To achieve excellence in education is the responsibility of both parents and teachers. The teachers educate the children in schools whilst the parents monitor and guide them at home. Monitoring and guiding a child at home is not a difficult task. One has to set or sacrifice a portion of one’s time for the sake of one’s child’s education. It is with hardship and sacrifices will excellence being achieved. Most parents do not even look at their children’s books. It is important that parents take a peek at their children’s books and exercise papers so as to make sure that they are doing their work accordingly in schools. It is through these monitoring that a parent may know their children’s performance in school. Any doubts about their children’s performance should be discussed in school with the teachers concerned. By going to school to meet teachers and get the detail learning habits and attitude of their children in school will help parents programme their children’s daily timetable to the utmost benefits. The children’s daily timetable should include time for revision, homework and other related activities such as recreation and play.

Parents should have a scoreboard at home to monitor their children’s performance in education. Each child should be taught to record their performance in every assessment or evaluation. These records should be in the form of a graph. These graphs should be hung in their rooms so that they are able to look at it at all times to remind them of their performance. Parents should assist their children in their revisions at home. Just by sitting beside your child reading your papers or even sewing while he or she is doing his or her revision is the least that you can do. Your child should be given the basic necessity needed for a study corner. A good and stable table, a comfortable chair, good lighting and a fan is necessary. A conducive environment to study would make a child happy and in the mood to achieve the best. Children should also be taught to identify the questions that they could not answer in each assessment or evaluation. From there they should be able to identify topics that are related to the questions. They should be taught how to get the information from books on topics that they are weak in. This can be done with the help of parents going through their books together looking for the required information on the related topics. As time goes by these children will be self sufficient in doing their own revision without the guidance and assistance of their parents. Scoring A is a matter of time from then on. Each year when the results of public examinations are announced, we are able to read the success story of many students in our country. The common factors of success mentioned by these students are that they have the undivided support of their parents and they have proper daily timetable in pursuing their studies.

What about those who are average or even weak in their studies? What is to become of them? As I have mentioned earlier, that under the KBSR programme each student will have an equal opportunity to learn at their own pace. Thus parents of these students will have to sacrifice more for the success of their children. Monitoring performance and assisting them in their learning process is part of the sacrifice to be done. Scoring A’s is not their goal. Their goal would be to acquire the basic skills and knowledge so that they are able to pass any examinations taken. Not scoring an A is not the end of the world. We have to make our children understand that not being able to score an A does not mean that you have FAILED. Acquiring skills and knowledge is the ultimate goal in education. Being able to use these skills and knowledge in their everyday lives is important. What is the use of being an excellent student but is not able to use the skills and knowledge to the very best in their lives? Successful people are those who are able to make full use of the skills and knowledge that they have acquired from their education. Many successful people are not those who have scored A’s in school. Most of them are those who are able to make the fullest of their acquire skills and knowledge. Thus Scoring A’s is NOT the final goal.