Soapbox: Testing times
By
Mai El-Rakhawy
Education should allow for an exploration of children's skills, the development of their talents, and encourage them to indulge in critical thinking. As part of the education system tests are held periodically to assess the progress of children and identify points of strength and weakness. This is how things should be. Sadly they are not.
Egyptian homes face an annual crisis come exam time. The strain of exams places psychological pressure on children and parents. Despite continual attempts to improve the curriculum, the ability to memorise remains the mainstay of the educational process while parents place enormous pressure on children to score the highest possible marks in the hope that they will eventually qualify to study medicine or engineering.
The ability to memorise says little about analytical skills. The obsession with rote learning could actually undermine other more important skills, including the ability to think creatively and critically. Parents and schools, under the current situation, are in cahoots in perpetuating a lop-sided educational process that can actually harm the mental well- being of our children.
The insistence of parents that children come top of their class, regardless of the topography of their multiple skills, is deplorable. Exams should gauge children's mental, creative and motor skills. The current system of exams, by stressing only one aspect of skills, stifles other aspects. It promotes stress and behavioural problems among children, as well as parents.
This week's Soapbox speaker is a child psychologist.
