When I was a very young child my biggest concern was that I didn’t miss an episode of the Wombles.
Today’s primary school kids are burdened with far weightier issues and it’s leading some of them to self-harm. According to a poll of members of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, children as young as six are so stressed out about exams and tests they are having mental health issues.
Schools have become exam factories that strangle creativity and take away the joy of learning. The constant treadmill of revising and testing is way too much way too soon. And it’s not even working.
Despite successive governments’ emphasis on league tables and progress charts our pupils are lagging behind those of other countries.
A Centre Forum study published in the last few days revealed that pupils in England’s schools are not performing as well as their peers around the world.
Excessive testing is not the answer. Education should be so much more than being able to temporarily hold facts in your head before regurgitating them on an exam paper. Who cares if you know when the Corn Laws were repealed? More tests and exams leaves less time for teaching, which leads to sky-high stress levels, miserable children and a narrow knowledge base.TESTING
OVERLOAD THREATENS CHILDREN’S HEALTH
When I was a very young child my biggest concern was that I didn’t miss an episode of the Wombles.
Today’s primary school kids are burdened with far weightier issues and it’s leading some of them to self-harm. According to a poll of members of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, children as young as six are so stressed out about exams and tests they are having mental health issues.
Schools have become exam factories that strangle creativity and take away the joy of learning. The constant treadmill of revising and testing is way too much way too soon. And it’s not even working.
Despite successive governments’ emphasis on league tables and progress charts our pupils are lagging behind those of other countries.
A Centre Forum study published in the last few days revealed that pupils in England’s schools are not performing as well as their peers around the world.
Excessive testing is not the answer. Education should be so much more than being able to temporarily hold facts in your head before regurgitating them on an exam paper. Who cares if you know when the Corn Laws were repealed? More tests and exams leaves less time for teaching, which leads to sky-high stress levels, miserable children and a narrow knowledge base.
