The examinations have started and nearing their completion. Today I was marking English First Additional Language paper two. This has been a challenging paper for learners in my experience as a teacher so far. For some reason language structure and conventions are less difficult to answer than answering comprehension text questions. What's mind-boggling is that most of the answers are right there in front of their eyes but they just can't see them. We have been instructed to focus on exercises that improve reading with understanding but I've come to realise that that is not the only factor at play here.
There are multiple factors that contribute to students' poor performance in English as an additional language. I won't go through them all but there is one I'd like to point out. Socioeconomic factors, family background, environmental factors, non exposure to certain stimuli essential for growth and learning are examples of such factors but there is one that is caused by the departmental policies. There is a policy that states that a learner must not repeat the same phase twice. This means that if a learner starts in the foundation phase which consists of grade 1 to 3, the child can only be detained in this phase only once. After that the child must be progressed to the next grade, even when they've not met the requirements to do so, to avoid them being stagnant in the schooling system for too long. In essence the department of education is saying the child's age is enough to see the student through to the next phase.
What are the consequences of this policy? This leads to having grade 4 to 7s who are unable to read and write because they were progressed before they were ready. If a learner isn't coping with grade 1 material, how are they expected to cope with more challenging modules in grade 2? This makes absolutely no sense. Now fast forward a few years and the learners are now in grade 6 and 7. I am teaching them English but they can't understand a single word I am saying. I write down simple instructions but it looks foreign to them. The learners end up failing and we as teachers end up accounting for it. This is truly nonsensical.
Tomorrow I must submit files on struggling learners and how I have supported them in performing better since the year has started. I am teaching grade 6 and grade 7 learners how to read and write. I was trained in delivering content, not grade 1 fundamentals but with the assistance of 
The very structures that are supposed to be assisting these children are the ones that are barriers to them. Unfortunately the teacher will always bear the brunt for this.
