Do they know that learning never ends?

THE rain is here and those with jobs that require them to move around may be busy cursing it since they are not farmers anyway. However, it is not only the farmers who are in a good mood right now.Students who have completed their final examinations are also basking in the moment of having managed to complete that bit of their life. And although the results are not yet out, the optimistic ones are making the best of the long holiday. Considering how much emphasis is placed on examinations in our education system, completion feels like winning an Olympic medal for many. There is that inevitable sense of having crossed a Rubicon. That whatever happens you have achieved something remarkable by just getting to that day and completing it without a hitch. Personally, finishing my O level was the best feeling. I had spent most of the time studying almost ten subjects and being in a boarding school was already tough enough. My levels of discipline at the time of my adolescence were not the best so there was also the never ending struggle to stay in the good books with authorities, if I was to stay in school.So when I finished my last examination I was so excited. I remember removing my school uniform shirt and throwing it in the dust bin! The things that your youth can make you do are sometimes hard to comprehend. And as I saw students walking around having completed their exams recently, I wished I could walk over and whisper to them, “It’s not really over.”Someone needs to tell our students or children that the process of learning never really ends. They need to be told that they should not be fooled by the formal education and its examination system that places an exam at the end of the academic year. There is simply so much more one can learn outside the classroom or after school. Students who have completed their final examinations can use this time to mix relaxing on holiday with learning a few things that will come in handy in their life. The commonest example used to be that of embarking on computer lessons since many schools either don’t offer such lessons or if they do, the students barely learn because the computers are simply very few compared to the willing learners. During the holidays therefore, a student can get more lessons in a private arrangement or even learn packages that were not being taught back in school like designing software or move a step further and start on tougher areas like programming if they want to major in IT at a later stage.Considering that the move from French to English as a language of instruction is still a fresh one, wise students could spend time during the holiday making efforts to polish up their language skills. This may need one to attend many of the language schools around town (or major towns). Alternatively you can also decide to immerse yourself in the language for instance always watching English language TV programs.Some students are lucky that their parents or close relatives work in places where it is possible for one to stick around as an apprentice. For instance if your father is a mechanic, instead of sitting at home the whole time scanning through TV channels, why not spend a few days at the garage to learn a few things about his kind of work?Parents with shops can use a helping hand from a vacationing student. I always love it when I go to a restaurant and see the child of the owner doing some work, and by work I don’t mean collecting money at the counter. There is no better way to teach your child the value of work than to offer them new learning. This long holiday offers this opportunity and it should be embraced.