Last week, on the first day back after the Mayday weekend, many parents of primary school children in England didn’t send their children to school. They did this to protest -- against the tests that their young children have to sit at a very young age.
The tests in question are the SATS, the Maths and English tests that 6-7 year olds across the country are required to take. But this testing is being met with ever increasing opposition. More than 40,000 parents have signed a petition calling for a boycott of these primary school tests -- which are scheduled for later this month. This campaign is known as "Let our Kids be Kids" and argues that a culture of ‘over-testing’ is damaging young children.
It’s not, obviously, the tests themselves that can be said to harm young children, but rather the pressure that young children are put under to perform well in these tests. Tuition centres are a relatively new but flourishing industry here, particularly in the greater London area. My second-born had a job in one such tuition centre during her A-level years, and she was pretty horrified at how very, very young children were sent in for long hours of tuition. The Sunday morning sessions at the tutoring centre would begin at 8am, and children as young as 5 and 6 would be attending sessions there. This seemed rather cruel: a young child goes to school five days of the week but then is forced to go for long tutoring sessions there for several hours over the weekend.
Obviously, the more the time and money spent on preparing these children for the tests, the greater the pressure that is brought to bear upon them.
Personally, I am in favour of testing, more testing and testing regularly. I think there should actually be more frequent testing within schools, so that students become adept at both preparing for tests as well as proficient in the techniques needed to tackle tests and exams. I really cannot understand how teachers will be able to assess proficiency or levels of learning without any sort of testing. The argument that the pressure to achieve, and the intense pressure generated by competitive testing damages those who do less well, should not be a reason for eliminating the element of competition from the educational system. If school tests were the norm at schools, it is quite possible that nationally administered tests like the SATS might seem less daunting to both parents and schoolchildren.
Tests and exams teach you several skills: how to work under pressure, how to work to deadline, how to manage your time and how to crystallise your thoughts. Techniques and strategies that students learn for exams and tests can form a template for ways in which they can deal with other life situations. Furthermore, tests provide a focus for blocks of learning, as they provide milestones and goals for various subjects.
But just how far the reactionary approach to testing is flawed can be gauged from a recent (rather amusing) incident: last month it was discovered that a SATS spelling test had been ‘leaked’ weeks before it was due to be administered (In Pakistani parlance paper out ho gaya thaa). When it was further discovered that some children had actually been busy learning and practising the spellings of words on the test, there was much outrage and the paper was withdrawn. I was bemused by this. Why withdraw the paper? Why not encourage more children to master all the words on the list?
Protesting parents who have supported the ‘Let our Kids be Kids’ are right to be aware of the dangers of overwhelming young children with pressures and cramming, but they should also be aware of the fact that school and tests are just one part of a child’s life, and that it is the parents who can provide the play-study balance.
Yes, let kids be kids but also: Let kids learn to spell and multiply.
Best wishes,