Beyond the Grades—Why Parents, Not Placements, Shape a Child’s Future

Apr 20, 2025 Features / Columnists, News, Waterfalls Magazine

---

By Karen Abrams MBA, AA, Doctoral Candidate

Kaieteur News- Last week, thousands of children across Guyana sat the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA). In homes across the country, parents experienced a wave of emotions, anxiety, fear, uncertainty, and for many, hope. For some, the exam felt like a final judgment on years of sacrifice: early mornings, extra lessons, and sleepless nights. It seemed as if one test would determine whether a door opens or closes for their child. But while that belief may have held sway in the past, it has never been less true than it is in today’s 21st-century Guyana.

I want to take this opportunity to gently challenge that perception. While school placements matter, marginally, they are not the final word on your child’s future. They never were. And increasingly, the most credible research in education makes it clear, it’s not the school that determines a child’s success, it’s you.

Whether your child has been placed in a “top school” or a regional secondary school, their path forward depends more on your involvement than on the name of the school. Across the globe and here in Guyana, we’ve seen time and again that the students who excel, the ones who rise, do so not only because of what happens in the classroom, but because of the consistent presence of someone at home or in the community, who believes in them, checks in on them, and holds their hand through the ups and downs.

Years of global research back this up. One landmark study conducted by Anne Henderson and Karen Mapp at the Harvard Family Research Project found that students with engaged parents performed better on standardized tests, earned higher grades, had better attendance, and were more likely to complete secondary school and pursue university education. These outcomes were not tied to household income, education level, or social status. The determining factor was simple, parental engagement.

This truth is reinforced by the work of psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner, whose ecological systems theory reminds us that a child’s development is shaped most powerfully by the environments closest to them, especially the home. Your kitchen table conversations, your gentle reminders, your quiet presence as they work through a tough math problem, all of that matters. More than you may know.

And here’s something else to consider, many students placed in so-called “top schools” still seek additional help. They attend extra lessons, they watch tutorials online, they receive academic support outside the classroom. So even if your child wasn’t placed in one of those elite schools, they are not behind. They are simply standing at a different starting line, but they can still run just as far, just as fast, with the right support.

We live in a time of unprecedented access to educational resources. Learning is no longer confined to a classroom. Platforms like YouTube and Khan Academy offer world-class instruction for free. Guyana now has its own national online afterschool programme, Pathway Online Academy, which offers live teachers, structured lessons in four core subjects, and support aligned with the Ministry of Education’s curriculum. In addition, the government’s recently touted ‘digital academy’ is also an option. Whether your child is in Grade 1 or preparing for CSEC, resources now exist to ensure that location and school placement no longer limit their potential.

But none of these tools matter without you. Because even the best resources require someone to make sure they’re being used. A parent who says, “Sit with me for one hour. Let’s go over your work together.” A parent who checks in, who encourages, who insists on the value of education. You do not need to be an expert or even understand the work. You just need to be present.

As education researcher, John Hattie discovered in his extensive review of over 800 meta-analyses on learning, parental involvement has one of the largest positive effects on student achievement, greater than most classroom interventions. Your role is not supplemental. It is central.

So if your child doesn’t get into one of the schools you hoped for, take a breath. Then look them in the eye and remind them, and yourself, that this is not the end. It’s the beginning of a new chapter; one where you have more power than any test result to shape what happens next.

You are your child’s first and most enduring teacher. And no school, no matter how prestigious, can replace what you bring to the table, love, encouragement, accountability, and belief.

They’re watching you. So let them see that their worth doesn’t rise or fall with an exam. Let them see that you believe in them, not because of where they go, but because of who they are.

And let them see that the journey ahead, though uncertain, is one you’ll take together.

---

---