Nip the bonus school holidays in the bud

SCHOOLS closed on Wednesday, December 7, and will re-open only next year on January 11. It’s a long break and parents will have it tough as their children will be a handful at home.

But many parents don’t seem to mind the long holidays. For the truth is children were kept at home long before schools closed. The practice is prevalent in Chatsworth where, in many instances, children stay away from school after writing the last papers. This gives them a bonus of an extra three weeks which, when added to the official five weeks, gives them two months holiday.

Teachers blame the parents and say it’s their responsibility to send their children to school after exams. Parents blame the schools, arguing that after the exams teachers are too busy with their paperwork and pupils have nothing useful to do but get up to mischief. They could have a point.

It seems that schools don’t mind pupils staying away as it does give them a chance to finish their paperwork. In the past teachers were hard-pressed for time to prepare elaborate schedules to present to inspectors.

These days schedules are easier – just symbols and figures done on computers. The superintendents don’t come to schools to peruse through them. The schedules are either taken or posted to the department. What is there to check whether pupils are ready to be promoted to the next grade?

Children are assessed continuously and write quarterly tests. If so, why are the final exams written so early, in many instances three or four weeks before schools close?

And why is there no uniformity between the former model C schools and those in Chatsworth and Phoenix? If model C schools finish exams a week before schools close, so can the others.

The department is too lax and needs to end this anomaly which gives Chatsworth pupils two months holiday.