In secondary schools, we regard prefects and peer counsellors as student leaders. As peripatetic trainers, we travel here and there training student leaders in secondary schools on their royal roles. In most cases, in our close interactions, student leaders ask: How can we balance leadership with academics? Of late, this quality question has been swirling in my mind like milk in my grizzled granny’s gourd. No wonder, as a concerned scribe, I chose to sit and write right about it.
In 2022, I know of a school where the Secretary General of the Student Council resigned simply because her academic performance was plummeting. Somewhat, her parents thought that she was performing poorly due to her active involvement in student leadership. Therefore, they compelled her to resign and focus on passing KCSE with flying colours. Unfortunately, contrary to parental expectation, when the good girl sat for KCSE, she scored a C (plain) and missed direct matriculation into the university.
In my opinion as a penman who works and walks with schools, I think through the blend of election and selection, schools settle on students who are holistically strong to lead. Meaning, student leaders have big and broad shoulders that can support both leadership and academic load. In a larger sense, I think student leaders can strike a beautiful balance when they focus on study skills, proper stewardship of time, compensation for time lost, avoiding extreme engagements, delegating when need be, seeking help when need be, and their mental health.
- Focus on study habits
Student leaders, who yearn to be veritable academic giants must focus on useful study habits. Somehow, when they excel academically, they will command academic respect in the school. In the distant past, the Athenian thinker, Aristotle put it aptly, “We become what we repeatedly do; excellence is not an act, but a habit.”
Therefore, based on that frame of logic, winning habits make students evince excellence. Some of the habits that can lead to academic excellence include: Maintaining Positive Mental Attitude (PMA), presence of academic tools, attending lessons regularly, presence of an all-inclusive timetable, proper stewardship of time, well-written notes, seeking to understand concepts, expansion of learning time, cultivating rich reading culture, building concentration and attention span, building massive powers of memory, engaging in active and productive group discussions, and consulting teachers and peers.
- Proper stewardship of time
Time is so important to an extent that it determines our ultimate position – direction and destiny. Time is the metre that measures relevance of our progress and success. Wisdom and time are inseparable. Proper stewardship of time is tantamount to wisdom. Those who manage time are wise, while those who cannot manage it are otherwise. No wonder, Psalms 90:12 harps, “Teach us to number our days right that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
In order to manage time, it is prudent to focus on the following principles: the ravenous desire to control it, choosing to be decisive, being determined and embracing different forms of discipline. Proper stewardship of time begins with the skill of self-management, premised on self-awareness and self-discipline. In order for student leaders to be steadfast stewards of time, it behooves them to set their priorities right: Do the first things first. There is the exigent need for a study plan. Wise use of time will require the student to come up with a what-to-do-list or task list and to keep personal diaries. When schools are closed and student leaders remain holed up at home, wise use of time means that they strike a beautiful balance when it comes to personal study, attendance to home chores and leisure time. They must arrest thieves of time such as complacency, procrastination, laziness, lassitude, a lot of sleep and walking with wayward friends.
- Compensation for time lost
Ostensibly, student leaders can miss some lessons maybe because they are out of school for training or perhaps they are busy like bees co-ordinating school programmes and routines. Based on the busy schedule, student leaders may fail to follow the personal timetable due to the leadership commitments. The idea here is; they should always find ways to compensate for time lost while attending to roles and responsibilities.
- Avoiding extreme engagements
Talking of extremes, I mean there are students in schools who always want to be everywhere, and in everything. Apart from being prefects, you find that they also want to be peer counsellors. Then, such students also want to be in every club, movement and society. There are students who are prefects, and want to be officials in drama, music and Christian Union. Of course, when students yearn to be ubiquitous and omnipresent, there will be a chilling challenge when it comes to striking the balance. In the end, this will have a negative impact on their academic performance.
- Delegating when need be
Delegation is a useful leadership skill. In actual sense, student leaders should also strive to implement it. When the President of the Student Council comes up with a detailed duty roster, it is a perfect manifestation of delegation.
Then, in some dockets, we have senior student leaders in the upper forms, and junior ones in the lower blocks. There is a reason the school does that. School arrowheads know that the student leader in Form Four may reach a point that s/he is busy, and such a time, it is prudent to delegate the work to the student leader in Form Two.
It is unwise for the student leader in Form Four to be out inspecting duties, yet other Form Fours are in the hall on Saturday; listening aptly to an academic talk facilitated by a guest subject expert, examiner.
- Seeking help when need be
There is a lie peddled out there that leaders are so strong to an extent that they cannot be pliant when pressure piles up. Professor Francis Imbuga writes in his seminal play Betrayal in the City that if liquids have boiling points, then human beings have breaking points.
Based on that, student leaders should not pretend to be as strong as oxen yet they are weak like reeds. They should be close to their patron – Deputy Principal in charge of administration. Our schools also have functional departments of Guidance and Counselling, where teacher-counsellors are always ready to assist.
- Focusing on mental health
Student leaders, who are mentally healthy, are always effective. Conversely, those who are mentally ill are terrible leaders who unleash violence, intimidation, threats and terror on other students. In our context, when student leaders cannot strike a beautiful balance, they suffer from acute levels of stress – distress. Poor management of stress can spill into depression; leading to suicidal thoughts. Therefore, student leaders should focus on practical ways of mitigating and managing stress. They should not struggle changing the unchangeable. It is wise to open up to people who can help them. Consequently, they should seek spiritual support: Prayer and meditation can lower levels of stress. Quality sleep and aerobic forms of exercise, and eco-therapy; are also stupendous stress management strategies. Then, choosing peace wards off stress. Apparently, where there is conflict there is stress. Likewise, where there is stress, there is conflict.
© Victor Ochieng’
The writer rolls out leadership talks and training services. He facilitates conferences of Principals and Deputy Principals. He trains Prefects and Peer Counsellors in schools. vochieng.90@gmail.com. 0704420232
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