Parents and teachers need to meet halfway

This week has been all about back to school ”, “and in many schools, teaching and learning already commenced on the first day.

Unfortunately, while millions of pupils got on with the job, many others remained anxious as they waited to learn their fate.

In the main, these are pupils whose parents only started looking for places this week.

There may be various reasons for this very late start some

– pupils have had to leave the institutions where they have been taught for many years to follow their parents as they attained employment elsewhere.

But this is no excuse. Leaving this important task to the last minute is utterly careless and places unnecessary strain on pupils who are already extremely stressed by their new, unfamiliar environment.

In a number of schools in Komani, principals and teachers have this week had the unenviable task of turning away parents and their children, because there was simply no more space.

This needs to come to an end. It is the responsibility of parents to ensure their children are assured of a place in a school of their choice in time.

The responsibility does not stop there.

Parents need to be more involved in their children s

’ education by helping them with homework and school projects.

Incidentally, in recent years school governing bodies, mostly made up of parents, have been given much more responsibilities than just being support structures

in some parts they even have

– powers to appoint teachers.

By the same token, teachers must play their part.

This includes paying attention to and exercising patience when children struggle to cope.

The parent takes over that responsibility after school. —