Who exactly needs these extra lessons?

I am rather dismayed and concerned about the direction which Zimbabwean Education is taking. Back when I did my ordinary level education (at a very government school mind you), only students who were extremely behind had to consider taking up extra lessons in order for them to catch up. For your average student; class lessons and a few hours of personal study per day were enough to ensure average passes.

Today nine years later, extra lessons have become part of the new formal education system. All students, from your below average student to your way above average student, are attending one form of extra lesson or another. Walk with me while I try and pin point possible reasons why this has become the status quo and decide who is in need of extra lessons:

1.       Could Zimbabwean children of today have a lower IQ than those of yesteryear. If this is the case then, ok children need extra lessons (But I doubt that). 

2.       Could Zimbabwean teachers of today be manipulating the education system in order to earn extra income? Are our teachers intentionally not exerting as much effort during the school term as they should so as to ensure that parents are forced to pay money for their children to attend extra lessons. If this is the case then its the teachers who need extra lessons. (This maybe true, we all know that our teachers, particularly the Government school teachers have openly expressed that their remuneration is way below what they “think” they are entitled to)

3.       Have children of today failed to comprehend the importance of education. Are they too busy courting one another, chatting on whatsapp or facebooking to pick up a book and STUDY on their own. If this is the reason is it not guidance and counseling that they need? (This could be a contributing factor, there is so much more keeping children of today busy than during my time)

4.       Have children of yesteryear who happen to be parents of today failed to take control of their children’s academic lives. Do they not give that home grown “push” (which sometimes felt like a shove) that our parents would give us where our academics were concerned. I see a chain here, as far as I am concerned, my generation came when the Zimbabwean dream was still alive. It was a few years post-independence and Zimbabweans were pregnant with aspiration and hope…the reality of freedom and education for all put our parents in a position where they needed to ensure that their children were educated and would have better opportunities in a free nation than they could ever dream of. And then what happened; the generation that followed did not have the same opinion of education. Education was a beast that one could not avoid. All of a sudden good grades were not enough, it is a trade-off “Dad, what are you getting me if I pass”  Children have to go to school, and do so involuntarily. The Zimbabwean dream had waned (probably overtaken by the American dream, I won’t dwell on that) and the importance and value of education had been lost…. And now the little ones require extra effort (a bit farfetched, I know but take time to ponder over it). What education was 10 years ago is not what it has become today, 10 years ago, one needed more A Level points to proceed to university then than they do today. If it is the parents then send them for extra lessons.

I don’t know what it is but I am not impressed by the reality that exam class students have to lose 2 weeks of their 4 week holiday  to go to school, you are taking a break from school but you have to go to school. Whereas in the same country learning at the same school but in a different time, the standard term was enough…

I won’t get into the story about the acting headmaster who lost examination papers while commuting with them on public transport.