Effects of the 11+ exam

A good chunk of our 10/11-year-olds are well into their preparation for the 11+ exam. What effect will this experience have on these youngsters? I intend to mention just a few.

We have built a mentality and given exams the role of measurement. Unfortunately we have extended this to the point of equating results to the worth of the individual. This is sure to leave its mark on the self-esteem of the child, influencing his/her identity and hence the behaviour of the child. Some will believe it and resort to submission, while others will rebel.

The feeling of success motivates anyone. Will the motivation for school and learning of the children who fail this exam be hindered/influenced by this exam? Is the number of school dropouts and the size of absenteeism some of our secondary schools are experiencing a direct result of this? What about those who pass?

The success of some will be the result of much pushing and drilling, a titanic effort, the result of some miraculous intervention. Will these children cope with the pace and expectations of a junior lyceum? Teachers who teach in our JLs know the answer perfectly well.

Due to all this drilling, teachers find that they have to choose and prioritise what curriculum to cover. Sports, drama, art, music, creativity, etc., are the first things to be dropped out, reducing the curriculum to just a drab and monotonous routine drilling of the five examined subjects. This also conveys the idea to the children that only these five subjects, and then only when they are taught in a certain way, count.

What about the mode of assessment? All modes of assessment have their limitations. So is it right to lay so much importance on one mode of assessment, and, to make matters worse, a one-time exam? Many things could happen to the student at the time of the exam, jeopardising the outcome. Those who choose not to sit for this exam, not because they do not wish to but who have already labelled themselves as being unable to do so, and those who fail are channelled into our area secondary schools. These schools hence carry the stigma that their students are those who have not made it. This status is to be carried throughout their lives, for everyone knows why these children were channelled into these schools.

This exam also has its effect on teachers. All teachers work and most are worth their salt. Some feel that their accountability depends on the percentage of passes from their classes. A good number also feel that they are restricted how they teach and are caught in a dilemma either to do a disservice to their profession by resorting to drilling, or to ignore all this and give a sound education only too aware of the criticism that may lie ahead.

What education are we giving to our children, one that feeds certificates or one that helps the child to mature and develop any of the different intelligences s/he may be endowed with? Why do so many children have such morbid ideas about schooling? Teachers also feel the pressure from parents and school heads.

At the end of a hard day at school the children return home. What is the situation here? Parents feel they are caught up in a dilemma, on one hand they want their children to experience their childhood; on the other they know quite well what effects the school will have on their child. They experience a financial problem due to private lessons, and after the 'failure' of their child, the fees paid to the private schools some of these children are sent to. They also feel that they failed as parents.

The stress that this exam puts on the relationship between the partners and on the home environment has its effect on the other siblings.

Hence I ask, why do we still persist with such a system? Am I misinterpreting what I see and hear in our schools? Why is it that so little research has been done on this area? Am I missing some important things? I am eager to have a good discussion on these matters with anyone who truly wants to explore the field. I feel that this system has been branding our youngsters for far too long. Some may say that I only mentioned negative aspects. Yes, some are benefiting from the present system, but at the expense of others.