First of all one of the main advantages of the currant system is its’ transparency and honesty. However I think as it stands it does not take account of a number of factors in the education system. The system presumes that all students start on a level playing field, this is not the case. Students from a high Socio-economic background will be able to afford extra tuition and also some schools particularly in urban areas must deal with a variety of social problems which other schools may not have to contend with. This means that some students have a head start and therefore the highly competitive nature of the points system is inappropriate.
Secondly the huge stress in having to compete for points rather than learning about a particular subject means that students may be forced to pick a subject which is easy to get points in, rather than one they are really interested in.
One of the great difficulties about criticising the points system is the requirement for an obvious alternative system. There is no perfect system but I do have a few suggestions.
First of all there should be continuos assessment of work throughout the year. This would mean that the final exam at the end of the year might only make up fifty percent of the total grade. This would remove the pressure somewhat of an all or nothing exam at the end of the year and it would also make extra-tuition a less attractive option with work being assessed all year.
I believe it is time for the department of education to develop a system which gives students a better chance to learn and grow without having to cope with such pressure.
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