Form One places a painful ordeal

. . . Is the nightmare really necessary? What a child takes or carries to a school, his or her attitude, his or her seriousness of purpose, his commitment and dedication to hard work are actually what matters, and not the name of the school.

EVERY year end, this time of the year many parents enjoy Christmas with tears on their faces and heartaches about where their child will attend school in Form One. I know many parents whose chronic BPs (hypertension) are triggered by this problem and many of the children make it worse for them. They insist they want to be at St Faith’s High School or St Augustine’s High School. You can add on to the list. Is this hoity-toity or is it “toyitoyi” really necessary?

I have had numerous phone calls from old and new friends who for some reason think I can assist them to get Form One places for their children at schools they want. Of course, I am privileged to know many school heads by the nature of my job at The Manica Post and away.

Indeed, many of them are my personal academic friends, if there is anything like that. How do I tell my friend whose school is recruiting pupils with five or six Grade Seven units to change his or her school policy and begin to enrol 10-pointers for my sake? Is that what good friendship means? Certainly not! I am the first person to understand what a friend does and wants at the work place. Handizvo here?

Do parents really know and understand what goes on in these schools they ‘worship’ like religious idols or they are driven by ‘faith’ that the schools are the best for their children?

Let me share with you what I believe some parents don’t know when they fall into these unnecessary headaches about making choices of schools for their children.

There is nothing called a best school for every child. The best school for your child, not his or her child, is where he or she is capable of becoming the best in whatever area of learning they are good at. Why do you have sleepless nights dying to have your child who has a flair or passion for building or carpentry at a school which specialises in producing lawyers? Or force your child who wants to become a starcricket player into a school where the big deal is Sciences?

If your child is gifted in sports and music why do you have sleepless nights trying to fit him or her into a school that specialises in producing doctors and engineers? If your child has 10 points at Grade Seven and he or she is a gifted dressmaker, why do you sleep on the headmaster’s office door at St Faith’s waiting to see him first thing in the morning on the morrow, when you can easily go to Marange or Mutambara, Lydia Chimonyo, the list is long, where dressmaking or Fashion and Fabrics is a serious learning area with wonderful and competent F&F teachers?

If your daughter has an interesting moral weakness you know, and you know school A and B are notorious for hanky-panky behaviour, why jostle with other parents for limited places at a school like that? Are schools D and E not far better for the building and conservation of your child’s behaviour than the “popular” ones . . . popular especially for the wrong reasons?

Besides, a lot of these schools are only big names remaining. They are like huge pencils with no lead in them anymore … egg-shells with no white or yolk inside anymore. The academic glory and lustre of many years ago is gone. Some schools which may not be as colourful and “famous” may actually be doing better in every sense. And your child could be in a better place here than there. Think about this … seriously. What a child takes or carries to a school, his or her attitude, his or her seriousness of purpose, his commitment and dedication to hard work are actually what matters, and not the name of the school.

I know of schools that no newspaper chooses for its headline, but schools that are doing wonderful work to develop brilliant and suitable candidates for the world. Do you want your child to harvest A’s in all academic learning areas and none in preparation for purpose; none in behaviour modelling and none in moral rearmament?

There are many schools in Zimbabwe which are best for your children but you congest the corridors and offices of schools that are not the best for them. Think about it carefully. Some are very expensive schools but not delivering the education commensurate with such huge education budgets.

It is the schools which are culprits. They call for only five units or six whatever, as if that is a religious guarantee for success in life. What message are you conveying to the society really when you say, “We enrol only children with five or six units?”

Are you saying those with 10 points and above are useless? Is that correct? Are they really useless? Do As and Bs in an examination mean As and Bs in life? Why are schools with very patriotic and intelligent school heads missing the point? Is this practice ethical anyway? Is it “legal” and is it allowed by Ministry of Education or it is one of the issues that Prof Mavima coming as he does from a hands-on crocodile dispensation can or must be persuaded to carefully examine?

Well, certainly a different topic for another day. Today’s is “Parents do not develop this habit of developing chronic hypertension once results are out because you believe some schools are in heaven and others in hell. Yes, you need to think about where your child finally gets a place but you do not need to die to get your child into a particular school.

There is no school in Zimbabwe worth dying for. Nearly a million parents thronging one school which wants to enrol only one hundred students! Is that a war worth fighting? Some are even prepared to “buy” those places for hefty sums of back-pocket money. What is there worth all this corruption, this pain and torture? Nothing, come to think of it!

Please enjoy your Christmas holiday and Happy New Year without this lump on your throat. What you may need to worry about is the foolish temptation to “eat” all the money including school fees for January 2018.

Merry Christmas all!