Anytime it’s school time I get sad. Yes, I mean sad not because I don’t like school but because I feel I don’t belong there.
My teachers say everyone is better than me because they get better grades in tests and exams.
My teachers always compare me with others but how can I dare tell them that I’m different from them.
They say I don’t do well even though they teach me well, but how can I tell them that the teaching method they use doesn’t favour me, even though it favours the majority.
How can I tell my teachers that I just need motivation not condemnation.
I wish I can be bold to tell my teachers that I have to be understood not to be compared.
My maths teacher says I am good for nothing because I am not good in calculations.
My science teacher says I am useless because I always get low grades.
My English teachers say I have no future because I can’t express myself fluently in the white man’s language.
They seem to have forgotten that I am the one that led the school soccer team to win that trophy.
I am the same student that always play those drums to the admiration of all.
Sometimes when I ask why they don’t consider what I do as important, they tell me WAEC doesn’t ask those in examinations.
My parents can’t even understand me because my teachers make them believe I’m good for nothing.
I thought my parents will tell them that I repair all the electrical appliances in the house without any training.
Who will hear me now, because I and many as me are being destroyed?
Who will help tell them that even though we may need the better hands to guide us on our way to getting the certificate, we have great talents?
Who will help tell teachers that they should not force their dreams on us but guide us to nurture our innate abilities?
Who will hear our cry?
Dear parent, stop comparing your kids with others, because they are all unique in their own way! So many times, it frustrates when you see the pace at which other kids are going, but you need to take a deep breath for a closer look.
(c) Culled
Get off the track
To get a different result, you need to stop doing things the same way!
In providing real-time solutions to noticeable academical problems, the need arises for one to be flexible. A unidirectional approach to solving problems related to learners cripple the possibility of getting results envisaged.
So here are some hints you can explore as parents: What is the learner’s learning curve, What is the most suitable methodical approach to help the learner grasp lessons, How flexible is the teacher at delivering tailored solutions to the problems, Have you considered trying a new hand before validating the complaint raised by the incumbent teacher concerning the learner, Does the learner fit in well to collective learning, if not have you tried individualized learning?
Once those questions can be properly answered, challenges gleaned would gradually become a thing of the past.
