This week 352,368 New South Wales kids will sit they NAPLAN tests which will give an overall picture of the level of education that has been achieved in years 3, 5, 7 and 9. Strangely, there will be some absentees because many teachers fear the tests and parents have been hoodwinked to believe that making kids sit and concentrate on a dreaded " exam " will mentally exhaust them and that the fear of failure will disturb their mental balance.
As a result, there is a distinct movement to sabotage NAPLAN. Some parents are encouraged to pretend sickness and have their child miss school on testing days. Many teachers dislike NAPLAN because they see it as a way of grading their professional performance - something that is anathema to the teachers unions. To achieve a better result they encourage weaker students to abstain from the tests.
Unfortunately, the Australian education system does not compare well with that of our Asian neighbours. The hours of schooling are longer in other countries and generally parents are keen to have their children achieve higher levels so as to attain elevation in a very demanding job market. In comparison, our schools fall far short of Asian expectations.
These NAPLAN tests occur over several days and contain simple quizzes on maths and English. They set out to determine the level of reading attained and each pupil is asked to construct a few sentences to show how well they understand spelling, grammar and punctuation - and the use of nouns, verbs and adjectives. Other tests explore the level of numeracy gained and the objective is to determine what help is needed to elevate a class falling short on standards to bring it to an acceptable level.
Both parents and teachers are selling our kids short if they pretend that there is nothing wrong with the Australian education system. We are churning out many who are unacceptable to employers because they lack the ability to do simple arithmetic or to construct an intelligent sentence to word a report. Some kids leaving school can not even determine the correct change involved in a simple financial transaction.
Education authorities despair that the abbreviations used in texting tend to destroy the ability to construct a normal sentence and the fact that just about every person on the planet is holding a Smartphone removes the need to do mental arithmetic - because that phone contains a calculator.
In the minds of some people being articulate and proficient with numbers is no longer necessary in this electronic age, and at the same time the learning process that was enhanced by reading books for entertainment is in sharp decline.
Worst of all, this contention that children should not be exposed to testing of their learning abilities because that imposes a harmful mental strain flies in the face of reality. They will certainly face a demanding examination at the end of their schooling if they hope to attain the Higher School Certificate and life delivers constant evaluations which involve both mental and communication skills. Obtaining a driving license is just one such example.
Leaving school with a good basic education should be the ambition of both the teaching profession and parents in preparing their sons and daughters for the challenging job market - and the prospect of earning a comfortable living. It will also determine Australia's standing in the competitive world ranking of trading economies. Our future will rest in the hands of those who today are in training to be tomorrow's leaders !
No comments:
Post a Comment