[LETTERS to the editor]Losing faith in competition
Published: 05 Nov. 2008, 22:18
On Oct. 8, students all over the country took a test to be assessed for their scholastic ability even though they are already supposed to take four regular examinations a year. The Ministry of Education wants all the students to be ranked according to their grades. It makes them slaves to examinations, which just measure their memorization ability.
My advice is for education authorities to cut the exams that push students into a hierarchy based on their test scores. Instead, it should focus on the development of their creative abilities with various teaching methods and materials, for example by expanding laboratories and experiment-centered science classes, speaking-centered English immersion classes, non-written exams, and Korean language classes emphasizing writing.
More and more parents and students are losing faith in competition-oriented school education. It is important to stop inconsistent educational policies to recover their trust. If not, the education system might face a collapse of the public school system.
Lee Hye-Kyeung, a teacher, Seoul
*e-mail to eopinion@joongang.co.kr or via fax to 82-2-751-9219
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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