The odd boy out

I started to conduct my first lesson of Form 4 Malay when I realised that there was a boy who simply refused to do anything. He did not bother to take down the exam scope which I wrote on the board. With things to expect in an exam, pupils will have some aim in doing the exercises given because they have a bearingn on the real exam.

Then I gave a written exercise for my boys and girls to do. Again I found that the same boy just stared at the exercise given and did nothing too. Usually I will ask questions to make sure that my pupils attempt the exercise given, then I will ask for answers. I will pick at random someone to answer, and if he gives a wrong answer, I will explain how to get the correct one.

When I gave another exercise to my pupils to do, I invited the boy I mentioned earlier out for a heart-to-heart talk to see why he refused to co-operate in class. To my surprise, the boy told me that he could not understand my instruction and could not follow the lessons. Then I asked him for his PMR results for Malay, and he told me that he got a 'D' which is very poor. No wonder he could not comprehend a thing in class.

For such type of students, we have a foundation class of three months to drill them on basic grammar and increase their vocabulary so that they can join a normal class again. If he still cannot make it, then we have to ask him to go for personal tuition elsewhere.