At the end of every year, schools in the country sit for the national examinations. Those who fail to pass are classified as dull children. This is wrong! I believe that no child is dull. We just need to create the right learning environment for the child.

All children by nature have the potential to perform well in their studies and this notion that some children are dull is baseless and unfounded. The only problem comes when children are not put into the right education system; right from childhood to help them become fluent in literacy and numeracy.

The right education system entails a lot and begins at home.

First and foremost, it means that children should be prepared well for schooling, introduced to schooling in the right schools and at the right age. The right school is one with qualifies staff, enough structures, resources and study materials. Right time and age have to do with taking the child to school not too early and not too late. For instance, what would would you make for a nursery school child of about three to four years, who is woken up at 4:00am daily not to miss the school van in the morning?

A good education system also means that children should be exposed to the right study materials, which suit their age and class. In many schools today, there are many things lacking which would make the whole study environment conductive for students at all levels.

Can you imagine some schools do not have play grounds, or if they do, they are standard? In certain cases, schools do not allow students time to play, yet we all know that work without play makes jack a dull boy. The various types of games played by children help sharpen the children’s brains and prepare them to carry out certain tasks that involve thinking and being creative. There are many types of games which young people can play and enjoy. Games like football being my favorite, volleyball, chess, netball, basket ball, lawn tennis and table tennis.

Some schools are still stuck to the teacher-centered approaches of teaching, which limits students’ opportunity to participate in class. Students should be given opportunity to initiate debate other than concentrating on lectures from teachers. Students need to be given a chance to take charge of some activities in their learning. They have to lead discussions, give answers, touch and examine specimens in the class or laboratories and actually write or draw conclusions on the board. Unfortunately, in some schools, all these are done by the teachers which do not allow learning to take place.

What teachers need to know is that students of all ages need to be excited a little, especially with out door activities. A good education system also exposes learners to role models who have excelled in education. There is also need for all; teachers to know their students. At secondary school level, for example, weak students need to be identified and given special attention.

More so, a school that allows free interaction of students of various classes and sexes would be the best. This can be done through debates and speech competitions between classes and different schools. Some people must be wondering why some schools always top being articulate in raising bright students and I still continue to appreciate our school for the hard work. Nothing comes on a silver plate. The most important rule of teaching is that students can excel. It all depends on how you help them to achieve this. When you meet students who have failed to excel in their studies, there is always one conclusion that they should draw – they were not helped to excel in their studies. There are no dull children.

– By Oyang Moses