Page 13 - Boardwalk Meander Issue 3 2026

EDUCATION

Pertunia Nkomo-Mofokeng, Deputy Dean of Teaching and Learning at Rosebank Young people also need honesty. Telling them that
International, argues that academic commitment and wellbeing cannot be marks do not matter at all will not feel credible
separated. Chronic stress affects concentration, memory and problem-solving, when applications and entry requirements are very
while exhausted learners often spend longer at their desks and retain less of real. The healthier message is that their results have
what they study. consequences, but those consequences are not the
same as a final judgement on their ability or future.
This is where families can lose perspective. Sleep is cut to make room for
revision, movement disappears from the day, meals become hurried and time A disappointing result may change the next step. It
away from schoolwork begins to look irresponsible. Every hour must apparently may require a new application, another route into
prove that the learner is trying hard enough, even though a tired and frightened study, a different qualification or more time to work
brain does not learn better simply because it has been denied a break. out what comes next. Those changes can be difficult
and deeply disappointing, but they are still changes of
Sleep, food, movement, laughter and conversations unrelated to school are route rather than proof that a life has failed.
part of the conditions that make sustained learning possible. They also remind
a teenager that they still belong to a family and a life beyond the examination Most adults cannot remember the exact marks
timetable. they received for every Matric subject, but many
can remember exactly how the year felt. They
Parents often ask what else they should be doing during the final stretch, but remember whether home was tense, whether every
in many homes the more useful change is to reduce the constant monitoring. conversation became an interrogation, whether they
A teenager should not have to provide a progress report every time they enter felt trusted and whether they believed the adults
the kitchen, and encouragement does not always need to sound like another around them would still see the same person when
reminder to study. Silence should not automatically be treated as evidence that the results arrived.
everything is under control, either.
Our responsibility is to help young people prepare
Ask how they are coping and give them enough time to answer properly. Notice properly without making them carry our fear of the
changes in sleep, appetite, mood or behaviour, listen before trying to solve the future. They need to know that effort is expected, that
problem and keep some ordinary family routines intact. They should be able to their wellbeing will be taken as seriously as their marks
take a break without having to defend it. and that support will remain available when the year
does not go according to plan.
When worry, panic, withdrawal or low mood persists, early support from a
teacher, school counsellor or mental-health professional is far more useful than Matric can influence what happens next, but it
waiting for the pressure to become unmanageable. cannot measure the whole person taking it.

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Boardwalk Meander Estate Issue 3 · 2026