LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The Ministry of Education recently announced the 2023 Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) examination results which show that 70 286 candidates failed and that community day secondary schools (CDSSs) are the worst performers.
Speaking during the announcement of the results, Deputy Minister of Education Nancy Chaola-Mdooko said the ministry will look into factors that have led to the poor performance of CDSSs in this year’s MSCE results which have registered an overall decline in pass rate of 54.4 percent, down from 58.4 percent in 2022.
She acknowledged the decline in the pass rate from last year, adding that the ministry will make every effort to make sure that education is improved in Malawi.
The Challenges
Examinations
It provides numerous benefits, including building confidence, developing self-analysis skills, promoting healthy competition, and stimulating learning. Exams teach students to manage their time and prepare for future challenges, such as college and professional life.
Common reasons for exam failure include poor preparation, time management, and understanding of the concepts. Distractions, anxiety, and health issues can also lead to failure. Failures are part and parcel of life. It should be used constructively to prepare better for the exam.
Teachers punctuality
Many teachers are not punctual for their duties and when you make an arranged visit or even a surprise visit, you won’t find the particular teacher you are looking for.
Lack of punctuality has an impact on all other learners as it disrupts the class, and the teacher is required to give directions to late pupils, often console the late pupil, and then recap on missing learning. This reduces learning time for the rest of the class.
The Role of Teachers
Emphasize attendance from day one. Greet students and families personally and ask about absences. Engage students in tracking their attendance. Talk about attendance at back-to-school nights. Contact parents early. Don’t wait for parent-teacher conferences.
Students’ Attendance
Poor attendance can lead to students who are not engaged in their learning, as well as a loss of respect from their peers. Absent teachers often feel guilty and as a result, may make changes to their work schedule or personal lives to make up for their absences.
Regular attendance fosters a classroom community between teachers and children. Students who attend school are more likely to succeed academically. Students gain background knowledge from discussions while learning in school. Attending school also provides time for social interactions with peers.
The correlation between attendance and dropout rates has important ramifications that go beyond the classroom. Compared to their peers who graduate, students who fail to complete their high school education are more likely to live in poverty, suffer poor health, and become involved in the criminal justice system.
Students’ Class Time
As a result of teachers’ poor punctuality, you will notice that the first period of learning time usually goes to waste.
Students need to manage their time. It ensures that students are well prepared, organized, and focused to manage their daily lives and complete academic assignments on time. It can lead to improved success, however, this is a skill that students have to learn and practice. Students must change their habits to have good time management skills.
Lesson Delivery
I think that there could be a problem with lesson delivery in our public schools. The Lesson Delivery component of Sheltered Instruction invites the teacher to consider how every step in the lesson moves the students closer to the lesson’s objectives. TESOL Trainers provide teacher training on strategies and techniques to make lesson delivery more efficient and effective.
TESOL stands for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. TESOL includes teaching English as a foreign language (such as in the China example) as well as teaching English as a second language (TESL), meaning in a country where the primary language is English.
One of the importance of having an effective lesson plan is to ensure that the learning objectives are conveyed clearly by the end of the lesson. When a lesson is effectively delivered this shows that the students understand the lesson objectives that have been set by their teacher.
Superior teaching stimulates students to study and perform at least as expected. Poor teaching demotivates them which catalyses the process of diminishing interest in the topic.
Commitment
Teachers’ commitment seems to be lacking. Teacher commitment to learners embraces educators’ inclination to assist learners and take accountability for their education. Commitment to instruction offers educators the obligation to examine novel methods of instruction to build learners’ educational encounters.
Teachers play a vital role in creating an environment that supports students’ learning. They often do this through their support for students’ autonomy. By supporting students’ choices and interests, teachers help students develop personal interest, involvement, and ownership of their work, which aids in motivation.
It’s also worth noting that teacher absenteeism can have non-academic impacts on students, such as reduced motivation, decreased attendance, and increased behavior problems. Students may be inclined to take substitute teachers less seriously, thus leading them to skip class or tune out.
The role of teachers is very important. The students normally sit doing nothing in the absence of their teacher.
Teacher commitment is an essential component of quality education. Commitment provides teachers with the love, desire, and energy they need to perform better. Committed teachers are thought to be more satisfied with teaching and always strive to accomplish good instruction (Somech & Bogler, 2002)
Committed teachers love teaching and work with students by building good relationships with them and showing them respect. Such teachers also have unquestionable loyalty to the profession, which leads to effective teaching and student learning.
Commitment to teaching is a crucial factor to contribute to the achievement of students. In addition, passion is a motivating factor; therefore, it is a significant need for high-quality learning and teaching. Passion is seeking for the new, and experiencing new ideas. Passion is based on effective teaching.
Syllabus coverage
There’s a probability that the syllabus is not being fully covered. The syllabus lays out your expectations for the quality of work you expect from your students and shows students how they should prepare for class. For example, the syllabus can explain whether students are supposed to do the readings before or after class.
The syllabus provides a map of the curriculum; it identifies a central question or set of questions (often in the course description), as well as central themes and important concepts (often through the titles of the weeks’ topics), and invites students to draw connections among them.
It is worth noting that non-coverage of school syllabus will result in poor performance of students in external examinations and thus limit the education sector’s goal of providing quality education for development. This jeopardizes the achievement of set goals in the education sector.
Homework
Government schools do not always give homework to their students, so they have less or no engagement with their schoolwork when they get home.
Homework helps teachers determine how well the lessons are being understood by their students. Homework teaches students how to problem solve. Homework gives students another opportunity to review class material. Homework gives parents a chance to see what is being learned in school.
There are many consequences of not doing your homework. It can further limit students from understanding the new concepts that will be taught in the class. Learners may either understand just a little or remain completely clueless about what is being taught. It can significantly affect their overall academic performance. They are likely to fall behind other students in the class.
Past Paper Revision
I don’t usually see past papers given to students in government schools. This is a clear indication that candidates have very little exposure to examination pay papers.
Why is revising a paper important? When we revise our writing, we take the opportunity to step back and re-envision it. We think about the goals of the paper and whether we have accomplished these goals. We ensure that our ideas are clearly expressed and well-supported.
In studying, revision will help students remember the important facts, figures, topics, and methodologies that they studied in the past.
In examinations, a revision will help learners be better able to answer test questions. They’ll feel prepared.
