Exams, Exams, Exams...Oh, MY!

What he says! (But not just because it reverberates with my own story...and I didn't even manage to get three Ds in my 'A' Levels!

In Singapore, there is an almost annual "debate" of renewed concern over the stresses placed on even younger youths than those discussed by Phil Baty - something discussed in Parliament in March. These PSLE exams are underway now, and LinkedIn is replete with commentary from many perspectives.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore has advised a focus on the virtues that the PSLE can develop in our children:

“Perseverance: working steadily to complete our tasks

Self-Control: Developing the discipline to avoid distractions

Leadership: Taking charge of one’s own studies and goals

Excellence: Applying our best efforts to any challenge”. ?

And John Tan just recently posted his concerns as a parent with a child undertaking the PSLE this year - and I can empathise, even though my own daughter has long since completed that trial:

Kelly N. notes, from the viewpoint of another parent living the experience, that she will “see the PSLE not as an exam that will “define their future” but as the successful completion of their primary school years during extraordinarily challenging time.” whilst thanking organisations such as the Happiness Initiative for their efforts to support the children?through what is widely deemed a necessary educational transition.

Proponents of the PSLE, whilst recognising the stress of the process, argue that “a mindset shift among parents [will] reduce this pressure” - an allocation of rationalised accountability with which EveryChild.SG fervently disagrees: “applying game theory to the PSLE system can help us understand how the individually rational and logical strategies and behaviours of parents, teachers and schools lead to the massive stress and pressure of PSLE, and therefore that asking for ‘mindset changes’ cannot solve the problem. The PSLE itself has to be revamped so that it is no longer a compulsory competitive game.”

I've written variously elsewhere that "education is not a commodity, it is a blessing and a tool towards a life of greater and greater achievements". (MDIS annual report - 2007; CoursesNow magazine, July 2006)?and, whilst Asia might arguably have the greatest infamy for exam stress and the expectations and demand for success, the trials of education and the consequences of the pressures applied are clearly and by no means unique to the region.?Yet, whilst there are famed nations which eradicate the competitive nature of education (Finland being the most renowned, of course), the otherwise near-ubiquitous system of exams and assessments and standardised, cross-comparative testing seems a long way from being significantly altered in most of the world. ?

So, what can be done? ?

??????????????????????????????????

We don't need no education. We don't need no thought control. No dark sarcasm in the classroom. Teacher, leave the kids alone. Hey! Teacher, leave us kids alone. All in all, you're just another brick in the wall. All in all, you're just another brick in the wall...

??????????????????????????????????

Much of the answer, I would argue, comes from a meeting in the middle of the “opposing” sides: whilst we should not aspire to mediocrity or to the artifice of absolute egalitarianism without caveat based upon ability; we must also not inculcate a win-at-all-costs mentality into our children. ?Childhood should be a time of play and exploration, of love and development sheltered from direct assault by the existential vicissitudes that waylay us all eventually. ?Rather than demand a maturation before their time, rather than insist upon a coal to diamond pressure pot of social and scholastic evolution; our goal as educators and parents must be to ensure each child sees school as fun, as a social bonding wherein the inculcation of education is received almost subliminally - below the perceptual radar, but no less impactful intellectually. ?Our children are the shared responsibility of parents and teachers - “it takes a village to raise a child” is not just a pithy proverb to throw out at parties, it is a maxim that should shape (and could reshape) our societies.