Education and Discipline -opinion piece 7

Sometimes, school owners are torn between numbers and quality. As a private educational institution, more students mean more money to fund the endless expenses of salaries, bills and taxes.

When a school does not have standards for admission, this creates problems for teachers. The same classroom is filled with very weak students who do not understand many basic concepts mixed with their bright counterparts who may find the daily revisions of basic topics boring as they endlessly anticipate something challenging that pushes them to their limits to discover more and become better.

However, there are others who will argue that a private institution should be able to admit any student, irrespective of the nature of their academic weakness, and bring the best out of such students. A teacher might feel the impossible is demanded of him or her, to do some magic tricks. In the mind of that teacher, how can one complete a long list of topics within a very short period before a final exam, moving at a snail’s pace, and yet ensuring that every student is on the same page, including those that do not feel insulted to be called dumb.

This situation, coupled with the absence of discipline (especially in spaces where corporal punishment is banned ) creates a nightmare for teachers. When young students or pupils know that nothing will happen to them if they refuse to do an assignment or show up for school activities, all hopes of raising responsible leaders of tomorrow is lost. Discipline and academic excellence go hand-in-hand.