Date published: 2007/08/26
Mike Baker of the BBC says:
The award for the year's most pointless activity must surely go to those commentators who, this August like most others, tried to prove that today's exams are easier than they were in the past.
Why is it that we are so obsessed with asking whether today's exams match the standards of those taken 20 or 40 years ago?
I have not yet come across any other country that so regularly beats itself up in this way.
Well, an even more pointless activity is talking about the exam results in the first place. Is there any other country that is so obsessed about this kind of thing? Let's face it, the kids and teachers of today are no better and no worse than in the past. If exam results are "better" today it is either because teachers and students are getting better at playing the system, or because exams are getting easier. But who cares, the real problem is that exams get in the way of education.
_________________________________________________________
All material not included from other sources is copyright cambridge2000.com.
For further information or questions email: info [at] cambridge2000 [dot] com
(replace "[at]" with "@" and "[dot]" with ".").