I REFER to a column ''Strain of writing off tests'' (South China Morning Post, October 21). No doubt the pressure exerted by the straining daily assignments and the heavily scheduled examinations is a product of the assessment system. But I disagree that the parents constituted a major part of the pressure.
The parents of today are more understanding and are more concerned about the pressure their children face than the parents of yesteryear. They are generally better educated, more attentive to their children with a relatively smaller family size, and theyhave been better informed by the media about this issue over the past two decades.
In my opinion, the school principals are at the crux of this issue. Many school principals still run their schools in a manner to protect the school reputation which is generally measured by the grades achieved by their students in the public examinations.
They have not changed. When I completed Form Four 25 years ago I was placed in the more sought-after science class despite my preference for the arts class.
My protest was ignored because of my principal's belief that I would achieve better grades in science subjects in the HKCEE. During our brief meeting, he never asked what I wanted to do after secondary school. His focus was on my grades, not my education.
This year a school which produced its first 10-As student in the HKCEE hailed its extra daily three-hour drilling method as a success. It was a truly cruel disclaimer of the talent of that particular student.
