As matriculants prepare for the important examinations of their school career to date – the 2017 Senior Certificate examinations, the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) Presidency and its structures has wished the class of 2017 well.

“We remind you that only with hard work and the necessary effort ploughed into your studies will you achieve excellent results. It is without a doubt, that many of you find yourselves in the most challenging of circumstances compounded by this period of added stress and anxiety,” says secretary general Shaykh Isgaak Taliep.

“However, we are reminded that as Muslims, we always strive for excellence as taught by our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him):’Indeed Allah loves if anyone of you does any action, he/she must do it with excellence.’”

Shaykh Taliep urged parents to make the home conducive for learning and studying but to also encourage Matriculants to remain steadfast in their Islamic obligations.

“Seek Allah’s help and guidance through patient perseverance (sabr) and prayer (salah). Utilize this time to strengthen you bond/relationship with Allah. He is the One that makes and turns every difficulty into ease,” he says.

“Remember, you are only required to try your best and that is good enough, inshaAllah. Put in the necessary effort – be diligent, proactive, focused, and have a visionary outlook – and leave the rest to Allah. May He grant all of you all the success and all the prosperity in your lives going forward, InshaAllah.”

Meanwhile, some education experts have cautioned students to refocus their time and energy now during the final exams. Nola Payne from The Independent Institute of Education, shares tips on how learners can settle into the right headspace, not allowing unnecessary distractions and managing the additional stress and challenges calmly.

She advises the following steps for rescuing the minutes that turn into hours and ultimately days – minutes spent on brainless activities instead of brain-building ones:

1) CONSIDER USING THE POMODORO TECHNIQUE WHEN STUDYING
Having a study roster is one thing. Sticking to it is another. The Pomodoro (tomato timer) technique is a fantastic and very empowering tool to get things done in a hyper-focused way, and can feel almost like a game, says Payne.

The way it works, is to sit down to your task with determination, then set a timer to 25 minutes and work intensely until the buzzer goes. Then get up, take a break of 5 minutes (do some stretches or take a quick walk – don’t check Facebook!) and get back to your books for another round. After every 4 rounds, take a break of about 30 minutes during which your time is your own to use as you please.

2) RESOLVE TO QUIT SOCIAL MEDIA COLD-TURKEY FOR A WEEK
It really does sound harder than it is, says Payne. She says that if you remove social media distractions and their temptations completely for a set period, your devices will soon lose their time-sucking lustre. You’ll also find that when you go back after your self-imposed period of abstinence, you would not have missed out on much at all – almost like going back to a soap or reality show after not watching it for a while.
On the pay-off side, your brain is likely to become much sharper for the experience, and potentially even less inclined to go back to unproductive time-sapping activities by default.

3) SORT OUT YOUR WORKSPACE
Find a space where you can sit down and get to work immediately and optimally. Have all your books and tools ready, so that you don’t have to spend the first 15 minutes of each session tidying up and getting into the swing of things. Know what you are going to spend your time on – set a goal for each session – before you start. While it is tempting to procrastinate by filing, tidying, or reworking your roster, those are precious minutes that dilute your focus and can lead to you doing all kinds of admin unrelated to the work you need to be revising.

4) STAY MINDFUL
While you are studying, focus on nothing else. At night, when you go to bed, and in the morning when you wake up, think about your future. Visualise why you are putting in all the hard work now, and picture your future – what you want to do with your life and how you are going to get there. The discipline and strategies you work on now will not only ensure you perform optimally when the time comes later this year, but also that you’ll continue on the solid path you’ve constructed throughout your studies and your career.
“In the world of work, most people are compensated financially according to time worked – whether that be hourly or monthly. Essentially, time is money. For matriculants, their focused investment of time pays off in results. It is therefore in a matriculant’s best interest now to take careful stock of their time and carefully budget it for the rest of the year,” says Payne. VOC