My Child Is Not Improving in School: What to Check First

The fee is paid. The lesson teacher comes twice a week. Then the term ends, you open the report card, and the same subject is still at the bottom. When a child is not improving in school, most of us jump to one of two answers: the child is unserious, or the teacher is not good. Sometimes one of those is true. Often something else is going on, and a few simple checks at home will show you which it is before you spend more money.

You are not alone

Struggling with the basics is common in Nigeria. In 2023, UNICEF Nigeria said 75% of children aged 7 to 14 cannot read a simple sentence or solve a basic maths problem. That is not a reason to relax. It is a reason to look closely, early, and calmly.

Picture an ordinary class of 40. Using UNICEF's figure, about 30 of those children may struggle to read a simple sentence. Using the Nigerian eye study further down, about 2 of them probably need glasses and may not even know it. That's our own illustration from national figures, but it shows how much one simple check can matter.

Read the report card slowly

Do not stop at the position in class. Look at the actual scores, subject by subject, and compare them with last term. A child who moved from 38 to 47 in Mathematics is improving, even if the position did not move.

Look at test scores against exam scores too. Good tests and poor exams can point to fear or poor time management. Poor scores in both point to gaps in understanding.

Open the exercise books

Exercise books tell you a lot, and they cost nothing to check.

• Is work dated, and does it run through the term?
• Has it been marked?
• Where there are mistakes, has your child done corrections?
• Are whole weeks missing?

Missing weeks may mean absence, a teacher who did not teach, or a child who stopped copying. Each of those needs a different response, so ask calmly before you decide which it is.

Ask your child to teach you

Pick one topic from this week. Say, "I have forgotten this one. Show me how it works." Then sit quietly while they explain.

A child who understands can explain it in their own words and work out a fresh example. A child who only memorised will repeat the note and get stuck at the first small change. This takes ten minutes, and it tells you more than a long lecture about seriousness.

If they get stuck, keep your voice calm. You are looking for information. The moment this turns into a beating or shouting, your child is likely to learn to hide the gaps from you, and you will stop getting honest answers. The World Health Organization's review of the evidence is blunt.

"Evidence shows corporal punishment harms children's physical and mental health" World Health Organization, 2026

The WHO adds that it makes behaviour problems worse over time and has no positive outcomes.

Look for causes outside the books

Some school problems have nothing to do with intelligence.

Eyes

A child who cannot see the board clearly will fall behind and may never tell you. A review of 28 studies of Nigerian schoolchildren found that about 6 in every 100 had a refractive error, the kind of problem glasses correct.

"School-age children with vision impairment can also experience lower levels of educational achievement." World Health Organization, 2026

Watch for a child who holds books very close, rubs their eyes often, complains of headaches, sits close to the TV, or copies wrongly from the board. If you notice these, take them to an optometrist or eye doctor for a proper test. Glasses are cheap compared with a lost year.

Ears

A child who cannot hear well from the back of a crowded class will also fall behind. The WHO says nearly 60% of hearing loss in children comes from causes that can be prevented, including ear infections that keep coming back. If your child often says "what?", turns the TV up, or has ear discharge, see a doctor or an ear, nose and throat specialist.

Sleep and food

Think about what time your child goes to bed and what time they leave home. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends 9 to 12 hours of sleep a night for children aged 6 to 12, and 8 to 10 hours for teenagers. A child who is up at 5 a.m. for a long school run, and awake at night with a phone or with house work, will struggle to concentrate by the second period. Hunger can do the same. Research suggests breakfast helps children stay on task in class, especially children who are not eating well.

Do the sum for your own house. A child aged 6 to 12 who has to wake at 5 a.m. needs to be asleep by 8 p.m. just to get the minimum 9 hours.

Gaps from earlier classes

Many struggles in JSS Mathematics started years earlier. If fractions were never understood, algebra will feel much harder. No amount of extra hours on this term's topic will fix a hole two classes down. A good teacher goes back and fills it, even if the syllabus says otherwise.

Something at school

A sudden drop, where a child was doing well and then was not, deserves gentle questions. Ask about friends, bullying, or a teacher they fear. Ask in the car or while cooking, when it does not feel like an interview. If your child seems sad, withdrawn or anxious for weeks, talk to the school counsellor or a doctor.

Questions to ask the teacher

Whether it is the class teacher or the home lesson teacher, go with specific questions, and they will usually give you specific answers.

• Which topics is my child weakest in right now?
• What should we see improve by the end of this month?
• Is my child doing the work without being pushed?
• What can we do at home that would help?

A teacher who can answer these clearly is paying attention. A teacher who replies only that "he is trying" may not be tracking your child closely. That alone is not a reason to sack anyone, but it is a reason to ask again in a month.

When it may be time to change

Give a new teacher at least a few weeks and a clear target. Consider a change if lessons have no plan, nothing gets marked, your child comes back more confused or more afraid, or the teacher uses harsh punishment. No fee or result is worth a child who is scared of learning.

Make it a weekly habit

Many parents hear about a problem only at the end of term, when it is too late to fix. A small weekly check works better. Ten minutes on Sunday evening is enough: what did you learn this week, what was hard, show me one thing you marked.

Keep the check about learning, not about doing the work for them. A large review of 50 studies found that parents talking with children about goals, school and how to learn was linked to better results. Helping directly with homework was not.

If your child is taught on Scholarleveling, part of this is done for you. Parents get a code and open the parents page to see how their child is really doing every week, including attendance, scores and the teacher's remarks. There is no account to create. If your child is taught elsewhere, a shared notebook between you and the teacher can do a similar job.

Either way, the goal is the same. See the problem while it is small, and face it together with your child.

Read next: why more lesson teachers isn't always the answer, or what AI is doing to children's thinking.