Mr. Edward Kabare is the Headmaster of Nyagatare Secondary School for 22 years.
First of all, for a student to easily nail his/her exams with flying colors’ must have self-discipline, almost anything is possible at school, I always tell students that when you learn and do all school activities with discipline you can go far and achieve anything.
Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Self-discipline is, indeed, regarded as one of the keys to successes. Many people attribute self-discipline to having determination and fortitude. That means having the strength and will to continue carrying out what one wants to achieve despite setbacks and hardships…
However, self-discipline is more about having self-control or the ability to control your desires and not falling prey to bad habits, such as laziness, procrastination and irresponsibility. In other words, self-discipline is having the willpower to fight your willful desire.
When a student has discipline, he or she plans for studies, respect teachers and spend time yarning to know more at school. For a student to be able to pass exams well must be well disciplined.
For instance, a blight student who does not have discipline will always be involved in bad habits like abusing drugs and not keeping time. With all that, even if he/she is good in class maintaining it is difficult.
Secondly, read all your notes and ask questions whenever you do not understand the things
You have learnt in class. It is even better to ask the teacher while in class which in turn helps others to fully understand that lesson.
I always tell students not to stick to subjects they do not perform well but rather put much effort into subjects they love and perform well. The reasons is that when you emphasize things that you do not perform well you will not have time for the subjects you love and performs well hence not doing well in all the subjects.
Everyone has a gift and I believe everyone can do what the other does, but we cannot all excel at the same grade. In addition, I advise students to know their strengths and weakness and by knowing that they will be able to know where to put effort for their success.
For instance, if you are doing physics, chemistry and biology at the advanced level and you are excelling highly in chemistry and biology but not good in physics, here most students tend to put a lot of effort into physics and forget to put much effort into those subjects they are good at hence sliding back in those they do well, which in the end makes it hard to pass well those subjects they were good at before.
In addition, try to focus on subjects you know instead of putting much time on those you do not perform well.
I have always told students to plan for private reading on different subjects and current affairs.
This will help students to know many things and this in turn will help them pass general paper and other questions requiring general understanding with flying colors’.
Thirdly, set day to day goals: it is much easier to keep track of your progress by setting daily goals. What’s more, it adds structure to your studying efforts. Set these goals the night before you intend to study, that way, you will not waste time the next day. At the end of each day, review your goals to see whether you accomplished them.
Furthermore, review your notes within 24 hours of learning a new topic; in light of the way your memory works, you must revise your notes within 24hours after a lesson on a new topic. This sis the major period within which you have to merge your learning.
It is advisable and good for students to find someone else to explain the topic they understand better because teaching another person is one of the ideal approaches to ensure that you understand a topic well. The ability to teach someone else a topic is an evidence that you have mastered the information yourself.
For day scholars revising or doing homework at home, before starting a study session ensure that the other people give you privacy. By doing this, you ensure neither your parents nor your siblings will disrupt your study session
Fourthly, teachers are channel to the success of the students and good performance of students. Some teachers do not give enough time to student when they want them outside of class.
Teachers should know how that there are shy students who fear asking questions in class but prefer to reach out to them privately’
In addition, teachers should know how that not all students need extra support but there are those who they know need their help in class. Then give them time .They should learn to observe and identify students in their classes that need a strong push to be able to perform well. Finally, get between 5to 7 hours of sleep every night; getting enough amount of sleep ensures that your goals set for the next day are doable. Thus, it is of utmost importance your body gets the amount of rest it deserves.
Collected by Tuyishimire Hirwa Clemence
