- Astiba Kebong’o says examination preparation should begin with identifying where individual learners are struggling.
- She says marks alone may not reveal misconceptions, confidence problems or foundational skills that need attention.
- Kebong’o calls for targeted interventions, positive reinforcement and stronger teacher capacity in diagnostic assessment.
As the examination season approaches, schools naturally turn their attention to revision, syllabus coverage and improved academic performance. Teachers work tirelessly to prepare learners, departments intensify revision programmes and learners spend longer hours engaging with examination materials.
But there is an important question we must ask: Do we know exactly where each learner is struggling?
A learner can attend every lesson, complete classwork, submit assignments and appear attentive, yet still carry a learning gap that has remained unnoticed for months or even years.
The most difficult gaps are often those that are not immediately visible.
Some learners will openly say, “I do not understand.” Others will ask questions and seek clarification. But there are also learners who remain silent. They may fear embarrassment, lack confidence or simply be unable to explain what they do not understand.
For such learners, the teacher must learn to look beyond the obvious.
In my experience as an educator, some of the most significant learning gaps I have identified have not been revealed during a whole-class lesson. I have discovered them while going through a learner’s work carefully and noticing recurring errors, incomplete reasoning or a pattern of difficulty.
Sometimes, the most productive conversation has happened away from the rest of the class.
When a learner is approached privately and treated with patience and dignity, they may gradually explain what they have been struggling with. A learner who appeared unwilling to participate in class may suddenly become open about the difficulty.
This is why individual attention matters.
A private conversation can reveal that what appears to be laziness is actually a misunderstanding; what looks like lack of interest may be fear of failure; and what appears to be inability may simply be a foundational skill that was never fully mastered.
The teacher’s role, therefore, is not merely to mark the work, but to read the story behind the work.
A score tells us something, but it does not tell us everything.
Two learners can obtain the same mark while experiencing completely different difficulties. One may have misunderstood a particular concept. Another may know the content but struggle to interpret examination questions. A third may understand the work but lack confidence in expressing an answer.
This is why formative and diagnostic assessment are important.
Research by Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam has highlighted the value of formative assessment when evidence about learners’ understanding is used to adapt teaching and provide meaningful feedback.
Teachers therefore need to examine patterns rather than isolated mistakes.
One wrong answer may be careless. A similar error appearing repeatedly deserves investigation.
The question should not simply be, “What did this learner get wrong?”
It should be, “What is this mistake telling me about the learner’s understanding?”
Find the gap, then design the intervention
Once a learning gap has been identified, the response should be specific.
Telling a learner to “work harder” is not an intervention.
If the learner struggles with comprehension, the intervention should address comprehension. If the difficulty is essay organisation, the learner needs guided practice in organising ideas. If the problem is a foundational mathematical skill, that foundation may need to be revisited before the learner can successfully tackle more advanced work.
A simple learner-support record can help teachers track the process: What is the gap? What may have caused it? What support is required? Who will provide it? When will progress be reviewed? Has the intervention worked?
Such records should not become another burden of paperwork. Their purpose is to ensure that identified difficulties lead to action.
As examinations draw closer, schools should move from general revision towards targeted intervention.
Instead of giving every learner more of the same work, teachers can identify individuals or small groups requiring particular support.
That is where personalised programmes become meaningful.
Academic intervention must also protect the learner’s confidence.
Repeated poor performance can gradually affect how learners see themselves. A learner who repeatedly hears that they are weak may eventually begin to believe that they cannot succeed.
Teachers should therefore correct mistakes without labelling learners.
There is a significant difference between saying, “You are weak in English,” and saying, “You are having difficulty with inference questions, but we can work on this together.”
The second approach identifies a skill rather than defining the child.
Psychologist Albert Bandura’s work on self-efficacy emphasises the importance of people’s beliefs in their ability to organise and carry out actions required to achieve particular goals.
Confidence does not replace effort, but a learner who believes improvement is possible is more likely to engage meaningfully with learning.
Positive reinforcement should therefore be part of intervention.
When a learner improves from five correct answers to eight, that progress should be acknowledged. When a previously silent learner begins asking questions, the teacher should recognise the courage involved. When a learner finally masters a concept that had caused difficulty for weeks, that achievement deserves encouragement.
Sometimes, a few sincere words from a teacher can restore a learner’s confidence.
Learners can also help one another.
Peer learning can provide valuable support when it is properly structured. Learners who have mastered particular concepts can assist classmates who are still struggling.
However, peer assistance must never become an opportunity for copying or academic dishonesty.
The stronger learner should explain, demonstrate, question and encourage. The learner receiving support should still do the thinking and complete the work independently.
This can benefit both learners. Explaining a concept can deepen the understanding of the learner providing assistance, while the learner receiving support gains another opportunity to understand the concept in a less intimidating environment.
The classroom can therefore become a community where learners learn with and from one another.
Strengthen teacher capacity
There is also an opportunity for the Teachers Service Commission to strengthen professional development around learning-gap identification and intervention.
Teachers would benefit from practical workshops focusing specifically on how to identify hidden learning gaps, analyse learners’ work, recognise recurring misconceptions, conduct effective diagnostic assessments and develop individual intervention programmes.
Such training should go beyond theory.
Teachers could bring anonymised samples of learners’ work, examine common errors, discuss possible causes and develop practical interventions. They could then review the outcomes and determine what worked and what needed adjustment.
This would strengthen a culture in which assessment is not simply about assigning marks but about informing instruction.
School leaders also have an important role. Heads of departments, directors of studies, senior teachers and academic teams can support teachers by creating systems for identifying learners requiring additional assistance and monitoring interventions.
Parents, too, should be engaged where appropriate so that support at school is complemented by encouragement at home.
As educators, we must resist the temptation to reduce learners to examination grades.
Behind every mark is a learner with different experiences, abilities, strengths, fears and aspirations.
Some learners need additional academic support. Others need encouragement. Some need a teacher to slow down and explain a concept differently. Others simply need someone to notice that they are struggling.
The Bible reminds us in Proverbs 27:23: “Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds.”
There is a powerful lesson here for education.
We cannot effectively support learners if we do not know their condition.
As examinations approach, the answer should not always be more papers, more tests and more pressure.
Sometimes, the most important intervention is a teacher sitting quietly with one learner and asking:
“What exactly are you finding difficult?”
And then listening.
That conversation may uncover a gap that months of whole-class teaching failed to reveal.
The ultimate goal of examination preparation should not merely be to improve a school’s mean score. It should be to help every learner discover what they can do, identify what they need to improve and receive the support necessary to make meaningful progress.
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We cannot close learning gaps that we have not noticed. And we cannot build confident learners unless we first take the time to understand them.
By Astiba Kebong’o
Astiba Kebong’o is an educator.
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