Matric fail doesn’t mean failure in life

Since the matric exams started, most parents are anxious for their children to do well. But they must bear in mind that, among the students sitting for exams, there are artists who don’t need to understand mathematics, there are entrepreneurs who don’t care about history or English literature.

There are musicians whose chemistry marks won’t matter. There are sports men/women whose physical fitness is more important than their grades in physics. And if your child gets top marks, that’s great, cheer for them. But if they don’t, please never take their self-confidence and dignity from them.

Tell them that it is okay, it is just an exam, and they are cut for much bigger things in life. Tell them, no matter what they score, you’d still love and not judge them. If you do this, you will see them conquering the world. One exam or low mark won’t take away their dreams or their talent.

Don’t think that doctors and engineers are the only happy people in the world. Yes, exams are important, but they’re not everything. Many times a boxer rose from the canvas to win the boxing match after almost being counted out by a referee.

Grades are good but they don’t define a learner. Never let your child’s future be defined by just one exam or grade. Everyone of us is a genius, and if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its entire life believing that it is stupid. Never let other people’s metrics of success become yours.

Samuel Radebe, Heilbron