To test or not?

I remember when I collected my SPM results. I was crushed. I was a couple of As short of my target. But that despondency lasted all of 10 minutes because I had a first date with this guy I had a hugest crush on! What’s my point? That a couple of tests and exams won’t kill our kids.

Instead of abolishing UPSR, PMR and SPM, we should be looking at the education system and perhaps, our own attitude on the chase for As. My Mom had only one requirement of us – do your best. Ok, and maybe, don’t fail. Apart from that, there was no pressure to collect As and outdo Mrs Lee’s daughter. That made taking exams a manageable part of student life.

Besides, if you have read Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story of Success you’ll discover that success has a lot to do with discipline and rigours of practice and repetition. So if it’s geniuses you want to raise, stick with public examinations. It’ll do him/her good.