Examining The Causes Of Examination Failures: Parent's Perspective

 As a parent, nothing could be as painful as seeing your child fail an examination, especially when you know that he/ she has everything it takes to come out with flying colours. Examination failures can be a devastating blow to a child's confidence and self-esteem, leading to feelings of frustration, disappointment, and anxiety. Why do pupils and students fail examinations? Examination failures can be attributed to a complex array of factors, including:

1. Lack of adequate preparation:

One of the primary causes of examination failures is inadequate preparation. This can be due to poor time management, lack of skills, or insufficient review of course materials. 

2. Ineffective learning strategies:

Pupils and students may adopt ineffective learning strategies, such as cramming, memorization, or relying solely on teacher's instructions. These strategies can lead to superficial understanding of the subject and poor retention of materials. As a parent, you are required to encourage your child to read and understand what he/ she reads, and to be able to express it clearly in his/ her own words when asked to do so. Cramming and memorization should not be the right approach to gainful studies and retaining information in the brain. It has disappointed many scholars in the past, and still does, presently. Once the pupil or student fails to remember a part of what was crammed or memorized, he/ she gets stranded in the examination hall. Perspiration will take over his/ her body. This is how the examination failures begin. Cramming and memorization can be used for short science and mathematical theories, laws, formulae, including other subjects where memorization is compulsory. For example, when a student is quoting Charles' or Boyle's Laws in Chemistry or Physics, he/ she is required to quote them verbatim exactly as they are written. The scholar can then begin to explain them further in his/ her own words. This is not referred to as cramming at all. It is compulsory for pupils and students to memorize such inevitable science laws. In English Literature, it is essential to memorize what some characters said exactly as the person said it. Till today, all those people who read William Shakespeare's books are still quoting them verbatim as they were written. For Bible and Islamic scholars, it is necessary to memorize the verses too, though not every part of them should be memorized. This is necessary to avoid adding and subtracting from the quotation. It is not cramming. But, when a History or Geography student is cramming and memorizing voluminous information in the textbooks, it is not encouraging. It makes studies very cumbersome. He/ she is supposed to study between the lines to understand the topics and retain the information, ideas, and concepts in the brain and explain or write them in his/ her own words when asked to do so.

3. Learning disabilities and barriers:

Undiagnosed learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) can significantly impact a child's ability to learn and retain information in the brain. Additionally, language barriers, cultural differences, or socio-economic disadvantages can also hinder academic success.

4. Emotional and psychological factors:

Emotional and psychological factors, such as anxiety, stress, or low self-esteem, can also contribute to examination failures. Children may experience test anxiety, fear of failure, or perfectionism, which can impede their ability to perform satisfactorily in examinations. Teach your child not to be afraid of failure because it is the tonic of champions.

5. Teacher-student/ pupil dynamics:

The relationship between teachers and students/ pupils can also play a significant role in examination failures. Poor communication, inadequate feedback, or unsupportive teaching styles can lead to student/ pupil disengagement and decreased motivation. 

Candidly speaking, as a parent, it is necessary to recognize the warning signs of potential examination failures. These include:

1. Declining grades:

A sudden or gradual decline in grades evidently proves that your child is struggling with course materials or experiencing learning difficulties.

2. Lack of motivation: 

A decrease in motivation or interest in  academic activities can signal that a child is disengaging from effective studies.

3. Increased anxiety or stress:

Visible signs of anxiety or stress, such as changes in appetite, sleep patterns, or mood, can indicate that a child is struggling with examination pressure. 

4. Avoidance behaviours:

Avoidance behaviours, such as procrastination, distraction, or refusal to do and complete school homework, can speak volume that a child is overwhelmed or struggling with academic demands.

As  a responsible parent, there are several ways of supporting your child in overcoming examination failures. These include:

1. Encouraging open communication:

Foster an open and supportive relationship with your child or ward, encouraging him/ her to express his/ her feelings, concerns, fears, and anxieties.

2. Identifying your child's learning strengths and weaknesses: 

Collaborate with teachers to identify your child's learning strengths and weaknesses, and develop targeted strategies or measures to address areas of difficulties.Your child's teacher knows the subjects where the child is performing well and where the child is lagging behind. It is your child's teacher that knows if the child is a truant or not. It is also the teacher that knows if the child pays attention to class lessons or not. The teacher can tell you many things about the child that you do not know. Therefore, it behooves responsible parents to get closer to the child's teacher and find out all these salient information about the child. When equipped with these information, you will be in a better position to know what to do to help the child perform excellently in examinations. If you refuse to pay heed to this advice, or fail to do it as a result of time constraint, then you should not blame the child for failing examinations. 

3. Developing effective learning strategies:

Help your child develop effective learning strategies, such as active learning, self-testing, and spaced repetition. As a parent, get a good home teacher for your child or ward. Provide past question papers based on the appropriate curriculum or syllabus containing the subjects the child offers, and let your child study the questions and try to solve them with the support of the home teacher. In the course of teaching the child at home, let the teacher set likely examination questions and give the child to write. This test should be done right in the presence of the teacher under a specific time-frame just like in actual examinations.The questions should come from the past question papers of the same examination body which will set the questions that the child is going to write. Let your child identify examination questions from the old question papers which he/ she can answer very well. Let him/ her also identify those ones which are difficult for him/ her to solve. Let the home teacher help in solving those hard ones and let the student/ pupil ensure that it is quite understood. What I mean is that before the examination comes, the student / pupil must be very sure that if any question comes from A, B, C, or D, he/ she will easily solve it correctly. From ALL subjects offered, a student/ pupil should be sure of some topics that he/ she can solve easily and correctly. Such preparation should be made if the child wants to perform excellently in the examination! If not, the chances of coming out from the examination with flying colours is a mirage and non-existent.

4. Providing emotional support:

Offer emotional support and reassurance, acknowledging your child's efforts and encouraging him/ her to persevere in the face of challenges.

5. Taking the smart phones from the student/ pupil:

One of the greatest causes of examination failures today is excessive screen time, particularly the smart phones. In recent years, students' academic performance has dropped dramatically across the world due to the endless hours children, teenagers, adolescents spend with the screen technologies, especially the smart phones. Scholars of today love to be with their smart phones rather than with their books. Distraction and concentration are not the same. They are not friends. Latitudinal lines cannot meet together. If your child does not drop the smart phone in his/ her hand, he/ she may likely continue failing examinations. If he/ she passes at all, it will be a low grade!

In summary, examination failures can be a disheartening experience for children. But, by understanding the underlying causes and providing targeted and proven support, parents can help their children overcome these challenges. By fostering a growth mindset, encouraging open communication, and developing effective learning strategies, parents can empower their children to achieve glowing academic success and build a strong foundation for future living. By working collaboratively with teachers, educators, and mental health professionals, parents can help their children develop skills, strategies, and resilience needed to overcome examination failures to achieve academic success. 

Please, kindly share this post with your friends and loved ones. It will go a long way to helping them prevent their children from failing examinations. Thank you.