I am teaching English Language to the last class in Form 5. I should call this class as 5 XYZ. Being given the responsibility to teach these low achievers is certainly a burden for me as their predecessors did not produce good results in the 2011 SPM with only 3 of them managed to pass the English Paper.

Despite being in Form 5, I cannot use the specified syllabuses for fear that they are unable to understand my lesson. As a result, I have to resort to using a primary school English syllabus to engage them in my lessons. Little did I know that the boys especially, could hardly understand my words although I use simple English during lesson. In contrast, the girls seem to be more attentive and give their full cooperation.

One Thursday afternoon, I noticed that five boys were missing from my class. Their classmates told me that they were hiding in the computer lab right after the previous lesson. I waited for them for thirty minutes but they did not show up. Wow! I’ve got an idea. I would make an announcement through the public address system. So I went down to the school office to call them in. However, they were so stubborn that they only appeared 10 minutes before the lesson was over. As a punishment, I gave the five strokes of rattan each on their buttocks with the hope that they would turn over a new leaf. But they never listened to me. This morning, another three boys from the same group skipped my lesson to join their lower form friends in the canteen.

The big question is, how can I eradicate this truancy among my SPM candidates who are not aware of the importance of English in their life?