Let go of unrealistic expectations with new look at exam system
To say teaching is to blame for declining English standards of students is to detract from the crux of the issue – our single-minded and unrealistic pursuit of wholesale improvement of all.
The legacy of elitism, pervasive in education, does not necessitate our clinging to a system that produces students branded as losers. If there is any good with our curriculum, it must be that it churns out around 50 per cent of students who do not attain the threshold in the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) English exam, also known as level three.
In this self-created predicament, it is perhaps time we let go of unrealistic expectations.
Not all students have the language competence we expect of them nor do they see high English proficiency as a prerequisite to succeed in society.
While some employers lament that language standards of fresh graduates leave much to be desired, not all professions require a very high command of English.
If the need for a banding system of schools tells us that students’ capacities vary, it is unrealistic to have them sit the same exam, only to expect that half will fail.