A number of parents in Wales have complained and urged the school teachers to boycott and ostracize the national school tests in primary schools that seem to be ‘damaging’ their children. Kids, by the time they reach the age of six or seven, are made to appear for the exams, often leaving them distressed and worried.
These national school tests are meant to test skills like numeral literacy or counting. However, school teachers, in support of the parents, also believe that these examinations are not a measure of a student’s skill.
With the issue warming up quickly, this will be addressed at the National Education Union(NEU) Cymru conference in Cardiff. The conference includes more than 100 teachers which will debate the issue.
National school tests terrifying the students
Students have been so terrified of the exams that they decided to personally write to Kristy Williams, the education secretary of Wales. According to the parents, their wards ‘cry their eyes out’ and get panicked as soon as they hear about the national school tests. A lot of them have hired private tutors for their seven-year-olds
However, the Welsh government has assured that the students aren’t judged or graded on the basis of their performance in the tests.
A mother of two believes that these tests have created unnecessary pressure for the children, parents and the teachers too. These kinds of ‘formal’ atmosphere are too intimidating for the students who are just six or seven-year-olds.
Making students appear for external examinations like this increases the chances of students having mental health issues at a very young age. Since these are not judged by the Welsh government, there’s no need to put students under such a situation.
Recently, Education Secretary Williams announced that the paper-based tests will be scrapped and they will be replaced by online assessments. The yearly assessments would continue as usual but taking them online would be better for the analysis of the progress.
