Be ambassador for discipline at school, life
THE average age of the volunteers at our school is 40 plus. The majority of our volunteer colleagues are female. So it was surprising when Malibongwe Hena, 21, requested to volunteer.
His mother volunteers as a teacher assistant and wanted us to assist her son around his future. After visiting the local university and receiving advice, he recognised that it was too late to register for any course this year – his academic record would allow him to study at an FET college. He wanted to stay active “doing the right thing” because Malibongwe admits that he has been a bit “naughty” and was afraid he would fall back into his bad habits.
He then offered his services to the school and volunteers as a historiographer, recording the activities at the school.
Having spent just more than two months at the school, he now reflects on his schooling career and what he fears is the opportunity he could have utilised better.
He is part of the writing circle of the Centre of Community Schools at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and reflects about his educational opportunity.
“It is very difficult these days to say learning is taken seriously. Education to pupils seems not to be important because of the neg- ative attitude and behaviour of pupils towards their teachers. I think pupils cause havoc to attract their teachers’ attention.
“Teaching is being distracted as teachers have to continuously shout at pupils to get their attention, thus causing the whole class to suffer in the process.
“There are so many disruptions during a period – fighting, not doing homework, disturbing one another – that a lot of valuable teaching time is lost because teachers have to attend to this.
“Those who truly suffer are the majority of pupils that come to school and do their work but get deprived by this small group of pupils.
“How many doctors and psychologists are we losing because of the loss of this valuable teaching time? “This type of behaviour not only affects the class and the school but the broader community and country as well.
“We need people who can take our country forward, especially from our disadvantaged communities. Parents of many of the pupils at our school see education as a tool to get out of their disadvantaged situations but this is under threat because of the behaviour of some of our children. We have the ability to turn this around.
“I was one of those pupils who caused trouble in class. I now realise the teacher was working for my benefit but then I was a bully and caused serious disruptions in my class. It got so bad that I was almost expelled in my Grade 12 year, but for the grace of the school I was only suspended.
“My uncle taught at the same school and he was constantly called to explain then reasons for my misbehaviour.
“I now realise I was just plain naughty. I hope some of my teachers read this article because I would truly like to apologise for my behaviour as I now recognise that this negative attitude affected my academic work badly.
“I would like to urge all young people to focus on their studies.
“I would not want them to have some of the regrets that I have now. We are running a race and our final destination is to be successful in life.
“To address some of these challenges, I realise we need parents in our communities to play a more active role in the education of their children.
“It truly takes a village to educate a child and parents and teachers need to take hands to deal with the behavioural problems confronting many of our schools.
“At home, children behave like angels but when they come to school, they become monsters. It is when parents and teachers take hands that we can work with the whole child.
“If I listened to my teachers I know I would have passed Grade 12 with flying colours because I now recognise my true potential. My education is now delayed because I must rewrite some subjects and I want to urge pupils not to fall into the same trap that I did.”
Malibongwe probably represents the voice of many of our youth who feel they have wasted their opportunity of receiving an education.
However, I would argue that he also represents the voice of the new generation of young people who strive to resurrect themselves despite their initial deviant paths.
I think we must create the space for Malibongwe and his peers to be able to reach their dreams so they could take hands with us in creating a South Africa where we can all share in the wealth of our country. Perhaps it is him and his peers who should become ambassadors to convince the youth of the true value of education.
All our life experiences come as a lesson, good and bad. It is the path that we choose when we reach our level of consciousness that will define us.
I know the path Malibongwe is choosing is the one that allows him to take responsibility to be the master of his own destiny.