Improving Students’ Learning Outcomes at Manyama Day Secondary School in Zambia

By: Dr Sampa Jeff Butler

I’m Dr Sampa Jeff Butler (PhD), the head teacher for Manyama Day Secondary School which is located in the north-western province of Zambia, in Kalumbila district to be specific I have been a head teacher for four (4) years now and the following are the steps or measures we have put in place to upscale our learners’ performance:

1)Introductionofsupervised studying(prep):our school is in the rural part of the country where learners are not exposed to libraries and technology The idea of independent study has not yet found meaning in their lives coupled with low literacy levels Teachers use the created study time to conduct remedial work or catch-up activities with learners.

2)Useofpastexaminations papers: we realised that our learners were not doing well in the past examinations due to lack of exposure to examination questioning techniques. This prompted us to embark on the use of past examination question papers when preparing mid-term, end of term assessments and during revisions. This helped us raise our pass percentage from 22% for grade 9 in 2022 to 64 7% in 2023 The grade 12 rose from 11% in 2022 to 44 7% in 2023

3)Dedicationofresourcesto teaching/learning: availability of T/L materials makes the work of an educator easy, enhances understanding, improves engagement between learners and teachers, better retention of contents, and it also increases motivation to both learners and teachers

4)Conductingperformance reviewstermly:we have been conducting performance reviews every term to understand the challenges faced by both teachers and learners. Teachers are tasked to provide reasons for either good results or bad results The reasons given must hinge on learner weaknesses as well as teacher weaknesses. This is to allow other subject specialists in the department to provide help where one teacher has a weakness It also helps departments to prepare their CPD programs in line with the difficulties faced by members

5)Introductionofresearchand consultations: learners are given work to research on and take their findings to any teacher in that subject for consultations This has helped both teachers and learners to bridge the knowledge or information gaps in the various subjects and Labour Day celebrations. This is a motivation factor. Learners are equally awarded during open days and graduation ceremonies for best performance in various subject categories.

7)Intensifiedmonitoring: the school has intensified lesson monitoring through both peermonitoring and in-school monitoring where either the head of department or the deputy head teacher does the monitoring. This is to ensure we are on the right track where pedagogy is concerned Our pass % target for 2024 examinations are: 100% for grade 9 and 80% for grade 12.

It is my hope that the few steps highlighted herein will propel our academic outcomes moving forward

6)Awardingbothdeserving teachers&learners: the school awards hardworking teachers during Teachers’ Day celebrations