PTA taking hands-on approach on students� work
Pini Bothoko | Thursday July 17, 2014 10:43
Magama said this during the Northern Practical Subjects Association (NOPSA) fair that was held at Francistown Senior Secondary School on Saturday. He said gone are the days of parents complaining about student’s problems instead of helping to come up with solutions aimed at improving their children’s academic excellence.
“We are tired of always talking about teenage pregnancy and school drop-outs, alcohol and drug abuse, crime and misbehaved students. This year we intend to come up with ways of addressing those issues well on time so that such incidents do not occur,” said Magama. Magama said they want all stakeholders to be involved in helping the Ministry of Education, Skills and Development (MoESD) in its efforts to improve students’ results.
“Our wish is to see all people becoming concerned by low marks in schools. People should get worried when schools in their area fail. Therefore, all should be involved and help come up with solutions to cause of these problems,” he said. He said it concerns them that some parents have a tendency to rely on teachers only and not play any part in making sure that their children do pass. “We have therefore decided to motivate parents to be engaged in practices and initiatives that promote learning at home and good parenting.
“We have established that during school holidays when students are at home with their parents, a lot of things happen that result in girl children getting pregnant. “This shows that parents are not monitoring their children as compared to teachers at boarding schools,” he said. Magama said that they have started using Parents Assist Students with Schoolwork (PASS) as they have established that most parents do not have time to take part in their children’s education.
“There are some parents who do not bother to assist their children with schoolwork, nor check their children’s books. They do not even know their children’s teachers and never consult the teachers to find out about the performance of their children,” said Magama. He said they intend to hold PTA meetings around the district to motivate and educate parents of the importance of taking part in their children’s education.
“There is another tool that we intend to use of CLASS: Church Leaders Assist Schools and Students. Here we know that most students spend most of their time at church and we want to educate churches to know how important they can be in passing the knowledge to students and encouraging them to take their studies serious,” he said.
He said that they have another tool called TIPS, Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork, after realising that some teachers do not care to know their student’s parents and how they can join forces to help improve students’ results.
Magama described the other tool they will use to promote learning, LASS which stands for Leaders Assist Schools and Students, which will focus on country leadership involvement ensuring the education.
The goal is to inculcate these strategies country-wide.
Magama said he was impressed that FSSS initiated such an exhibition to motivate and encourage students to nurture their talents in practical subjects. “I am concerned that some students after failing their Form Three or Form Five abandon their talents in handiwork, but as parents we have to identify those students and help them carry on with their talents by starting up businesses as the government is willing to fund youth in order to empower them,” said Magama.