Excelling in secondary school does not guarantee success at university

Many brilliant students are encouraged to perform better in secondary schools in order to qualify for government sponsorship at the university.

I am responding to the letter which appeared in the Sunday Monitor of March 10, titled, “Why good Performance in our Education System is short-lived?”

Students in Primary and Secondary school are drilled in order to perform well in their studies. There is constant instruction by teachers, supervision, encouraging competition among students, etc. These methods generally change at university level.

Students at university are expected to have self-motivation towards their studies and not depend on teachers.

Secondly, the learning environment at primary and secondary levels is totally different. In Primary and Secondary school, students have strict time-tables and rules. They are required to be at the school campus most of the time, attend most of the academic activities and many other activities which will contribute to their academic performance.

When such students join higher institutions of learning where there is more freedom, they feel as if they have been liberated from “ prison life”. They tend to relax and sometimes dodge lectures. They may abscond from some academic activities.

Some of these students spend most of the time going to night clubs, drinking, going to beaches, and many others leisure activities. They feel that it is their time to have the fun they missed while in primary and secondary school.

In the end, they get little time to concentrate on their studies and this affects their ability to get first class degrees because all the grades that one gets as soon as he/she joins the university, determine the type of degree that they will get at the completion of studies.

Many brilliant students are encouraged to perform better in secondary schools in order to qualify for government sponsorship at the university.

When they pass and join the university on government sponsorship, they feel content and may not see the need to continue studying hard. They are sure of getting a degree at the end of their studies, no matter what class
it is, provided it will help them to secure a job.

Lastly, I have heard some university students complaining that some of their professors do not award high scores even when one deserves them.
When a student performs well, they may not award them what is due. The reasons why these professors may act this way vary.

Leonard Kakinda,
kyengera5@gmail.com