I swear the people who sit in the glimmering glass building of the Ministry of Education hate children. Seeing a happy child fills them with rage, a child’s laughter is an assault on their ear drums, the innocence and wild imaginations of children are traits they spend every day working to crush.
Because only a group of children hating sadists could formulate the Secondary Education Assessment exam. This past Thursday approximately 17,937 students arrived at school with their pencils in zip lock bags, spirits crushed to sit an exam that they have internalized will determine the course of their future…because despite all the “no matter what happens” and “this exam doesn’t define” messages, these children have been so psychologically battered preparing for SEA, failing or not doing well seems like the end of the world.
It isn’t a secret that children who go to private schools or children whose families have the financial resources to send their children to private after-school lessons do better in SEA than those who do not come from families with limited time and financial resources.
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I was watching a couple of news channels’ interviews with children after the exam on Thursday. The children from private schools or from high-performing denominational schools all came skipping out, boasting that other than one troubling math question, the exam was easy, and they are certain they would get into one of their top choice schools.
Compare this to children from government schools, especially from smaller communities, who while relieved it was over, admitted they found the exam tricky. As one little boy said with a scarcity of confidence, “I just tried my best, that’s all I can do.”
It was heartbreaking and a glaring reminder that SEA is not designed for all children to succeed.
Children, even those from non-denominational public schools, who have parents that are physically, emotionally and financially invested in their children’s education will always succeed.
Now, in most cases, when it comes to children who don’t have this level of support, it’s not because the parents don’t care. The fact is most people do not have thousands of dollars to send their children to extra lessons. It’s not that they do not want to sit down every day and study with their child, it’s that many parents, especially single parents, are working themselves to the bone to keep the lights on and when they get home, it’s cook, clean and more work. At the end of the day, they are exhausted and emotionally drained.
We also have to look at the fact that due to the difficulty and amount of work the children have, many parents cannot help with it, because they themselves don’t understand it.
My daughter is in standard 4 and I do not understand three-quarters of the math she gets. Some of the words she must learn for vocabulary, I didn’t learn until secondary school. It’s astounding to me that 11/12-year-olds are expected to memorise a dictionary only to be tested on a handful of the things they have been required to learn. If it wasn’t for lessons, she would be screwed, and frankly its messing with my self- esteem.
As a parent, I can only imagineow much it must hurt another parent who wants the best for their child, but because the system is set up to fail children who aren’t from means, their child will struggle. And how insulting it must be to hear ministers and people of means to say, “become more involved,” “make sacrifices.” What is aggravating is that at the end of the day, children who had the lessons, had the support, and get into first-choice schools are seen as smarter. When I am sure if you took that little boy who admitted he struggled and the who boast it was easy, had them assessed and tested, their IQ’s and abilities to learn would be equal.
How do we change this? The reality we cannot just zone children. Our schools are not spread out enough to support this. Urban areas have a bazillion schools, rural areas have one or two and even then there are children who have to travel long distances to get to their nearest schools.
Also, denominational-prestige schools will still require an exam of sort for those who wish to go there, which again fuels the inequity.
What needs to happen is a system of continuous assessment needs to be put in place. A system where children are not just given exams, but projects, presentations and in-class assignments. Like all changes it won’t be easy, and the haters will hate.
No child should feel that they are less than, due to an exam. If you don’t think children pick up on these things you are a moron. No child should feel because of the circumstances they were born into they cannot succeed educationally.
So, with elections coming up, I would like to see one of those big talkers address this issue and not “we’re going to end SEA.” No, I want to see plans, I want to see research, I want to see input from child psychologists, local and international education experts, I want to see a definite direction, not dumbass shallow promises with no backing. Empowered children, who are made to feel they are equal within our society, go on to create a better and stronger country.
That’s what we should strive for.
