CRAM? When?

NCEA exams are looming so students must buckle down and study, but it seems they're too busy. Debrin Foxcroft finds out more
They're burning the candle at both ends. What with study, work, sport, friends and social networking sites - students have only so many hours in the day, and only so many days until exam time.
Edgewater College principal Allan Vester is worried that, in the roar of activities demanding students' attention, studying for the national NCEA exams is merely a whimper.
"Our students need to understand they are competing against others across the country," he says.
"Students are comparing themselves against their friends, thinking half an hour here and there is okay, rather than in the context of the rest of New Zealand."
Mr Vester is so worried that he wrote to parents outlining just how much work needs to be done.
He has called for two or more hours of study a night and eight to 10 hours over the weekend.
Anything less, he says, is like training for a marathon by walking to the dairy and back.
"I feel a certain frustration and a concern really."
Although the response from parents has been positive, he admits that some students have been a little incredulous. "I think some are wondering, 'Gee, what is this guy on?'," he says.
Tamara Gower, a Year 12 student at Edgewater, admits it's only luck if she has opened any of her books before the exam season begins.
"During the year, I don't touch a book, and towards exams I might do two hours a night," she says.
She probably won't study on the weekends until November then cram in the study week leading to the final exams.
But her study must fit in with work. She is contracted to do 15 hours at the Warehouse, although most weeks her hours increase to 25.
"Work stops study," she says. "I get home, eat and then sleep."
Fellow Year 12 students Simon Corkery and Kate Christie are a little more focused on the impending tests. Simon just makes it to his principal's expectations.
Meanwhile, Kate is committing two to three hours a night and at least 12 hours at the weekend. "But then, I don't have a life right now," she says.
Tamara believes the principal's expectations are unrealistic. However, she admits that whenever she is this close to exams, she wishes she had studied more throughout the year.
Jonathan Anderson, manager of Kip McGrath Education Centre in Howick, says the number of hours students need to study depends on how they learn and what they have been doing the rest of the year.
"It's hard to make a blanket statement because it comes down to learning styles," he says.
"That said, we find a lot of students simply don't know how to study."
Mr Anderson believes some of the responsibility falls on the schools.
"Teaching kids how to learn needs to be part of the curriculum," he says.
He believes there needs to be a grass-roots change to the education system along with investment by parents and students.
Until that time, he can only offer up an ominous warning.
"Leaving focused study until three or four weeks before the exams is almost leaving it too late."
What do you think? Email: letters@theaucklander.co.nz