By: Anna Filipe
As a teacher, I find myself questioning many aspects of the education system, both on a small scale within my classroom and on a larger, systemic level.
One area of concern is the learning experience of differently-abled students in the classroom. Some students face significant challenges with reading, writing, or articulating in English, which often leads to academic failure.
It’s troubling to see these students struggle, knowing that they may eventually join the ranks of the unemployed due to a lack of foundational skills.
The real question is: why aren’t we tailoring our approach to education to better suit the diverse needs of our students?
Instead of using a one-size-fits-all method, we should be focusing on each student’s abilities and finding ways to support them accordingly.
First, Various learners have learning disabilities/ impairments in the areas of intellectual, behavioural, or emotional to name a few, which educators and parents are not aware of.
That being said, when a challenge is not diagnosed, no appropriate solutions can be recommended.
Therefore many assumptions could be created and in the end, no progress will be made.
Secondly, not all educators have experience in the field of special needs, they are not psychologists, counsellors, or therapists thus, they cannot diagnose a learner which means they will fail to help the child.
The educator can assume what the challenge is but they will not be able to effectively assist the child.
Thirdly, not all children are gifted academically meaning some children will never make it in the area of academics.
Lastly, a narrative that assumes the English language is a measure of intelligence. Some of the children are artistic and have agricultural skills for instance and cannot communicate in English and this can mislead people with the notion that this particular learner is not intelligent or competent.
With the few concerns highlighted, the alarming question is what are we willing to do about our children?
Recommendations
- Children need to be assessed and diagnosed early concerning learning impairments so that we do not waste time forcing a child to learn a school subject that their impairment cannot accommodate.
This could lead to feelings of frustration for the child, parents, or teachers because they could assume the child is lazy, they don’t want to study while there is an invisible problem that no one is aware of, leading to fighting losing battles.
- Parents need to change their mindsets; and take charge of their children’s education (days are gone when you follow the belief that all levels of schools should be completed).
This is not to imply that children should be removed from school and education is not important, however, the question should linger in your mind whether this particular education approach is working for your child.
- The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture might need to revise some of the educational policies that could perhaps benefit the learner in the long run.
Promoting a learner with 40% to the next grade, and transferring a learner who has never passed their entire life is not the solution (which I refer to as getting rid of the child until one day the system spits him/her out with nowhere to go).
- Reintroduce special classes where learners can learn at their own pace or in relation to their abilities with the main aim of identifying their strengths.
Once their strengths are identified then the learner could be assisted in order to develop their strengths and then direct them into suitable careers based on what they can do and not on what the government requires.
Yes, inclusive education was considered to avoid discrimination among learners and it makes political sense but I rather suggest we equip the kids with skills within their parameter of comprehension.
- To provide compulsory soft skills for learners to enable them to function in the job market such as writing, speaking, computer, emotional intelligence, organisational behaviour, presentation skills, financial literacy skills, etc.
The creation of a knowledge-based economy should be objective and not produce people who have degrees and have no idea how to function in the job market.
- The learners who are excelling in vocational subjects should not be forced to complete all school grades and subjects instead their competence should be assessed (can they practically perform the task for example bricklaying).
If the results meet the required standard and the learner is age-appropriate by law to work they should be given a chance to go in the job market and be encouraged to pursue self-employment and avoid taking their time staying in school when it is not useful for the particular child. Moreover, the assessments can be accredited to ensure validity.
The country needs to concentrate on what is working, a solution-driven society as opposed to holding on to policies and approaches that are not acquiring any improvements.
Anna Filipe is an educator and columnist. The views expressed herein are her own.
