Dealing with the pressure to pass

I am always woken up by the bell at 5am. I have 40 minutes to shower and get ready, 20 minutes to have breakfast and be ready for morning preps which start at 6am. We revise up to 8am, when usual classes start. I take a break at 10:30am and resume class at 11am to 1pm. At 2pm, after lunch, we resume class up to 5pm. I have a break to freshen up, and get ready for night preps between 8pm to 10pm.” This is Sue Collet Kirabo’s typical day as a Senior Four candidate at Baptist High School, Nyanama.
In addition to the obviously busy class schedule, Kirabo also has tests every Wednesday and Saturday, so she has to create time to prepare for them too. “The last holiday, I went home for only a week, and resumed school as a day scholar with classes from 7am to 5pm, everyday, save for Sunday,” she says.
Like Kirabo, many other students in candidate classes are under pressure to pass both individually and as part of schools.
“As teachers, more than anything else, we want to see our students excel. And with the current competition, you do not want your school labelled as one that ‘does not pass’ students at national level. This calls for more effort and vigour in teaching. The pressure not only goes for the pupils but teachers as well,” Sandra Mubiru, the deputy head teacher St. John Primary School in Kitintale, says.

One of the very first steps taken in a bid to overcome the pressure to pass is, “Ensure all pupils in Primary Seven are in boarding section. Through this we are sure all pupils are readily available every time they are needed and in time, something day scholars perhaps do not have,” Deo Ssekakoni, deputy head teacher Seeta Junior School, says.

Completion of the syllabus
The syllabus is divided into three, for the three different academic terms. “But since our candidates are always at school, we create time and complete the syllabus sometimes by end of second term or mid third term. We then embark on continuous bi-weekly assessment tests which are short and focused on lower classwork because it is very examinable,” Ssekakoni says.
“To complete the syllabus in time, you have to increase the speed at which you teach. Though this has its disadvantages, the advantage is, time for revision is spared during which, one can always revisit the subject the students did not understand,” Christopher Wambedde, a teacher at St. Noah Girl’s Secondary School, Zana says. This, in addition to weekly and weekend remedial classes provides extra time away from the normal class time to complete the syllabus.

Effect on students
To young minds, this pressure coupled with very little time to rest has some tremendous effects. “I totally appreciate the effort teachers and schools put in to ensure students pass, but, I think they go overboard,” Wilson Kitondekigya, a parent, says. His daughter, Sarah Kitondekigya for example was in day school from Senior One. But in her Senior Three, the school insisted they needed her in boarding section. “I went there and talked about it with her teachers, emphasising that I needed my daughter to stay home. I pushed up to the end of the year but later, they called us in a meeting to tell us all candidates had to be in boarding school,” he says.
“Just last week, I was called to pick her from school because she was sick, but when we reached hospital, all tests came out negative, and the doctor said she just needed to rest. She was fatigued. I sincerely, think that learning becomes more harmful than helpful this way. There is a little improvement in her performance, but still, it is not that significant in comparison to the kind of pressure they are put through,” Kitondekigya says.
Caroline Musimenta, a teacher at St. Maria Goretti, Katende says, “Sometimes the students doze in the middle of the lesson because they did not have enough rest, and others lose weight abnormally by the end of the term because they are in constant worry of tests and the final exam. There is a time we just tell them to rest the whole weekend, because though we want them to pass, having enough rest is also good.”

Compromising quality?
“Normally, when drafting the teaching timetable, every topic is supposed to be handled in a given time period, but with the pressure, most times we are tempted to deviate from it. At the end of the day, the students are over taught, but with limited understanding of the concepts,” Mubiru says.
“For some subjects such as Biology and Chemistry the only way to survive is by cramming. There are topics that are really hard and require time, but because you did not understand them in class, you decide not to attempt them ever,” Karen Naggayi, a Senior Six candidate at St. Elizabeth Secondary School, Nkoowe says.
Despite schools being under pressure to come top in national exams, forcing students to learn without any rest may be helpful in the short run but the students may not sustain that success.

Beat exam stress
Believe in yourself. If you prepare for the exams properly you should do fine, meaning that there is no need to worry excessively.
Do not try to be perfect. It is great to succeed and reach for the stars, but keep things in balance. If you think that “anything less than an A means you have failed” then you are creating mountains of unnecessary stress for yourself. Aim to do your best but do recognise that none of us can be perfect all of the time.
Take steps to overcome problems. If you find you do not understand some of your course material, getting stressed out won’t help. Instead, take action to address the problem directly by seeing or talking to your teacher or getting help from your classmates.
Open up. Confiding in someone you trust and who will be supportive is a great way to alleviate stress and worry. You can even talk to the senior woman teacher.

How to know you have exam stress

Exam anxiety is:
• Excessive worry about upcoming exams
• Fear of being evaluated
• Apprehension about the consequences
Psychological factors:
• Feeling little or no control over the exam situation (rather than knowing and applying exam strategies).
• Negative thinking and self-criticism (rather than being one’s own best friend).
• Irrational thinking about exams and outcomes
• Irrational beliefs “if i do not pass, my (family /friends) will lose respect for me”; “I will never get a degree”.
• Irrational demands “I have to get at least an A or I am worthless”.
• Catastrophic predictions “I will fail no matter what I do—there’s no point”.

Source: University of St Andrews

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