There should be continuing movement towards achieving greater success. What should be borne in mind is that a school is synonymous with hope and that its purpose is to discharge more and improved teaching and learning experiences. Failing students, if it has to happen, should be a rare and accidental occurrence rather than a permanent characteristic feature of any school.
By their own efforts, where possible, some brave parents try to avoid like plague schools associated with the stigma of failing students. When opportunities exist where it is highly possible for their children to succeed, some very parents are devising means and ways of diverting their children away from schools with a dubious distinction of under serving students. This is the reason why some schools are overpopulated while others are under populated. On account of limited opportunities in thriving schools, not all parents are successful in their endeavour to save their children from falling into the hands of schools where they are most likely to face some uncertain future. This is the more reason why all schools should strive to do better.
Otherwise there should be a deliberate pro-child policy aimed at securing the very best schools for all children. Schools that have a notorious distinction of permanently existing in a state of inertia should close shop because their continued existence offers nothing but a perpetual culture of under-service and disservice to the students under their care. Students deserve better-managed schools. The biggest reform that can ever be undertaken in our schools is fixing the broken culture of schools. A school is more than a building. Yes, school buildings are not longer appealing and a face lifting exercise is required. But this alone cannot bring about improved learning outcomes. There is an urgent need to go deeper than the superficial and fully address issues surrounding governance and pedagogy.
Matters of instruction should assume centre stage in the career life of a school principal. Pedagogy is the life and blood of a school and therefore cannot be relegated to the background. Once again a school should be a beacon of hope for all children. A school worth its salt should be intentional in providing an enabling environment while creating opportunities for fulfilment of students’ dreams and aspirations. Schools that offer no hope for students have no reason to keep enrolling more and more students. Sending children to schools that do not attempt to provide a climate for impactful interactions is a violation of the rights of children to education.
If all children are equal in the eyes of the law, they should be subjected to the same classroom instructional regimen in schools. Before any known chronically low achieving school begins its teaching and learning business, it should demonstrate readiness to do things differently rather than continue business as usual. All schools have just begun their first semester and parents legitimately expect all schools to begin with a bang.
However, a smooth and ideal take off is hardly possible. The stark reality is that, depending on circumstances, some schools start on low gear while others resume business on a high note. Learners are on day one subjected to contrasting fortunes. Here lies the roots of inequalities and schools should not be the architect of societal inequalities.
The first semester coincides with the release of student learning outcomes for the year that has gone by. The academic standing of a school as measured by student outcomes of the previous year can either be a source of inspiration or cause a feeling of despondency. Schools that have done well usually start on a positive note, with less worries about the future as the positive results would have given them confidence about the efficacy of the strategies that had been deployed in the past.
Good results inspire and challenge students and teachers to strive to maintain the status quo or even exceed past achievements. However, schools with a stigma of under achievement do not inspire any confidence and therefore run the risk of languishing in a state of inertia. All in all, schools should standardise pedagogical approaches so that children from all walks of life are subjected to the same robust teaching regimen.
Any data available, be it results or any information about the circumstances of students, should be used to inform pedagogy. A string of poor results suggest volumes about the quality of pedagogy and efforts should be made to address the loopholes that could be identified. If schools strive to raise pedagogical standards, then all students would stand a chance to do better. The schools would then fulfil their object of equalising opportunities for all students.
