This year's Certificate of Education Examination results have sprung a few surprises that raise questions about our school system and how it is perceived by different stakeholders.
A top school has produced a record number of candidates scoring straight As, but two of its poorer performing students committed a robbery, claiming the crime was motivated by feelings of having been neglected. Most other elite schools have produced fewer or no top scorers. In the New Territories, however, several schools have been catapulted to fame by their students' outstanding performances.
Some elite schools have blamed the fall in their number of top scorers to changes to the secondary school places allocation system. Since 2001, primary graduates have been grouped under three, instead of five, bands. As a result, schools that used to cream off the top 20 per cent of students have had to cope with students from the upper-third of the ability spectrum. Having failed to nurture stars from intakes that encompass a wider mix of abilities, they have demanded a return to the old system.
Their call should be rejected by all conscientious educators. While the five-band system was good for schools that had a monopoly of band one students, it placed a disproportionate burden on those with the tough task of teaching pupils from the bottom band. Many band five students were so badly affected by the stigma of being in the lowest grouping, they lost their interest to study altogether. Even for band-three and band-four students, the impact of being categorised in this way at the tender age of 11 could be serious.
With a three-band system, the labelling effect remains. But the anxiety that the five-band classification used to cause among students and parents has been reduced. Schools and teachers now face greater difficulties dealing with a broader range of students, but the problems are outweighed by the social and educational benefits of diluting the labelling effect.
Lifting those in the lower range while allowing the gifted to excel is one of the guiding philosophies of education reform. This year's public examination results have shown that some schools have achieved this goal while others have failed. Some were so used to getting the best students they did not know how to deal with lower-achievers. Others have always had to try stimulating ways to motivate the less able; they and their students have benefited from the three-band system. The authorities should take note of all their experiences and help those with difficulties to find the right solutions.
