Everyone is equally precious and has their own unique contribution to make. Through education, they should be able to realise their fullest potential so as to use their skills and knowledge to benefit our country, and lead a satisfying life. Thus, we argue that education is not only valuable to have a successful career but also to preserve our cultural roots, equip people with the right values and attitude and acquire various skills for life long learning. 

Firstly, education is valuable to preserve our cultural roots. It helps us understand our cultural heritage and understand different races, religions and cultures. For example, students have the chance to learn more about the various culture of the different races in Singapore during Social Studies lessons, teaching them to embrace and respect one another despite their differences. This is very much important as we can avoid misunderstandings and conflicts of different races and make our country a democratic society.

Hence, we can all live together as one and face obstacles together. Thus, education is not only valuable to have a successful career but also to preserve our cultural roots.

Secondly, education is valuable to equip us with the right values and attitude. Schools are communities of virtue in which responsibility, hard work, honesty, and kindness are modeled, taught, expected, celebrated, and continually practiced. Moral values will help in developing positive social attitudes in new generation which prompt them to raise their voice against social evils. It will help the individual to resolve value conflicts and fix the standard of his behavior. It is needed to give direction to one's social, moral and spiritual development, thus to bring quality to life. For example, it is compulsory for students to complete at least 6 hours of Community Involvement Programme (CIP) annually. It provides students a platform to participate in meaningful activities that contribute to the community and aims to nurture a sense of social responsibility, helping the students understand that everyone can play a part in bettering the community. It also instills positive values and attitudes in the students such as caring for the needy people and responsibility in making a contribution to the society. We need to have firm moral values to give us strength in the world of shifting values so that  everyone has individual positive moral characteristics. Thus, education is not only valuable to have a successful career but also to equip students with the right values and attitudes. 

Thirdly, education is also valuable for us to acquire soft skills. These skills include critical thinking skills, creativity and life long learning. Life long learning is a skill that involves an effort to learn to be independent or self-regulated learning in acquiring skills and new knowledge. The ability to find and manage relevant information from various sources is also a criterion of this soft skill. Besides this, students are also expected to develop an inquiry mind and crave for knowledge. As mentioned earlier, this is important in order for an individual to be media literate and consumer knowledgeable. Life-long learning will enable individuals to accumulate as much knowledge and skills over the years. The ability to manage information well will allow an individual to distinguish between good and bad, to adopt the best practices and to make sound decisions. Also, many Singaporeans perceive creativity as a value that is less important, and it is just a by-product of the rote-based learning education system in Singapore. This should not be the case as creativity is a necessary soft skill that we should acquire and various art and crafts classes and drama classes in school can allow students to develop their creativity. Students can also acquire communication skills through public speaking workshops. These skills are important traits as employers seek applicants well equipped with them so that they will help come up with innovative and fresh ideas for products that can attract consumers, increasing revenue for the company. A main complaint of local employers is that Singaporean graduates cannot practically apply their knowledge that they have gained. A piece of paper does not guarantee that one is good at their job and various soft skills are most definitely necessary. Thus, education is not only valuable to have a successful career but also for us to acquire soft skills such critical thinking skills, creativity and life long learning. 

Some may argue that education is only valuable when one has a successful career as most high paying jobs nowadays require certain education certificates. For example, a job with salary higher than $5000 such as Computer and Information systems manager, academic credentials needed are good IT degrees, for example in Computer Science or Computer Engineering as these software knowledge are vital in managing the vital backbone of the company. Education should grantee a successful career in which ensures a steady income for our families. 

However, recent statistics have shown that graduates from the universities in Singapore holding a degree, despite obtaining high levels of education, are unable to find a stable and secure job that offers a relatively high pay. In fact, Singaporeans with tertiary education – the unemployment rate has shot up to be the highest among all the high-income countries. Even official statistics reveal that unemployment among graduates has risen from 3.3% to 3.6%, whilst diploma holders unemployment has shot up from 3.4% to 3.9% in the first six months of 2013. These figures are very much higher than the official national unemployment figure of 2.1%.

In conclusion, meaningful education aims at the all-round development of the learner. The optimal development of the moral, spiritual and aesthetic aspects of personality needs enrichment and refinement in the form of value education. Therefore, education is not only valuable if one has a successful career. 

Joycelyn and May Chie

Some say that examinations are a blessing as it triggers us to remember and be able to utilise the knowledge that we have learnt. It also brings about friendly competition between peers, pushing students to strive to do better each time. For example, there will be class rankings of grades after a particular test and students will work and study harder in order to be placed higher in the rankings. 

However, we believe that examinations in our education is a curse. The education system is too exam-orientated and brings about more negatives impacts than positive ones. 

An exam-orientated system kills independent thoughts and creativity. Students are made to memorise various information everyday and rarely does one have any chance to develop his creativity or have his own thoughts. This rigid way of teaching has killed the excitement of learning and made it nothing but a chore. An education psychologist at the University of Oregon, Ron Beghetto said " The current focus on examinations in schools, and the idea that there is only one right answer to a question, may be hampering development of creativity among kids. There's not much room for unexpected, novel, divergent thought."  

Christine Yep and Wu Anping (4C)

We feel that exams in our education system is a curse. Exams were meant to measure students' understanding of the subjects and to allow teachers to aid them in their weaknesses for future learning. However, the intent of having exams changed and now students are having tests so frequently. They limit the ability of one's critical and creative thinking. An example in the article, "education as as path to conformity", Mr Qian questioned about why China is able to produce so many clever people yet so few geniuses. This shows that because schools actually encourages us to memorise all the information taught without really understanding what it means. Students then lose their ability to think critically as they only care about the "politically correct" answer, thus not being able to think out of the box. Studies have shown that students in America who have less tests, have more flexible thinking equipped with ingenuity compared to the average students who go through a series of tests. Education involving exams makes people be obsessed with the conical narrative that education is about going to college and getting straight As, instead of being a platform for people to discover and develop their talents. If this is the case, it contradicts the actual meaning of education. 

Some might argue that examinations give students and equal access to higher education, by separating the more academically able students from the less able ones so as to give teachers a clearer image of who to focus more of their efforts on. This thus will help slower students be on par with faster ones, and be able to access an equal level of higher education just like the more able students. 

However, these examinations tend to affect the child socially. With the high frequency of tests occurring in schools, the less able students will feel disappointed upon constantly receiving lower grades, causing their self esteem and confidence, and even their love for learning to slowly disintegrate. Teachers who try to help them might also give the wrong impression, making the student feel even more pressurised that he has to be specially watched over by the teacher, and might lead him to feel even more disheartened and unwilling to improve. Classification of the students into the "smart class" and the "slower class" through examinations , tests, and results may also lead to tension between students, increasing the animosity and uncomfortable atmosphere in schools, thus making 
learning less conducive and unproductive for students.

Examinations will provide us with a good report card, and maybe land us in a good job, but whether we can stay in the job, depends not on examinations which brings a lot the lack of sleep, the mindless memorisation of facts, or the good grades; instead it depends on life and interpersonal skills, something that we cannot gain simply by taking exam after exam. It requires time to cultivate and develop these skills, and cramming for examinations are taking away much time from that segment of our lives. Therefore, tests have been contorted into a curse.

Kai Ting (5) & Roxanne (12) 4B

Examinations - a core component in the education system, and the monster in many students' lives. Some might say that exams are beneficial in measuring one's strengths and weaknesses, allowing improvement and learning from mistakes, with the regulation providing structure for evaluation of the abilities of both students and teachers. But behind this idealism, what benefits do exams truly beget? No two people are the same, and different people have different interests and purposes in life. As Sir Ken Robinson had said: education, in a way, dislocates very many people from their natural talents. Human resources are like natural resources; buried deep, not found on the surface, and you have to create the circumstances for them to surface. Education is supposed to be one such platform, yet it does not do as such, instead forcing them into moulds that they may or may not fit in, restricting them within the boundaries of education, limiting their potential and their chances of finding their true calling. Examinations are simply one enforcement of this flawed system, and this regimentation and standardization is but trying to measure different beings with the same marker, and simply test students in stoic memorisation as opposed to critical thinking and creativity, and perhaps the spending power of parents in their ability to pay for tuition. Hence, examinations are a curse. 

Yu Ling (2) and Cherri (3) 4C

​Exams in our education system are a cursing. Exams in our current education nowadays are also being used as a way to determine the quality of a school, their teachers and also judge whether a student is capable or not. Exams in our current education now are prospective. Teachers are rethinking whether they want to begin a career in which high test scores matter most, and in which they will be pressured to produce these scores. Writer Alfie Kohn wrote that norm-referenced tests were never intended to measure the quality of learning or teaching. The main objective of these tests is to rank, not to rate; to spread out the scores, not to gauge the quality of a given student or school. The presence of exams changes their mindset about the purpose of exams, which is actually to, according to writer Melissa Kelly, identify the strengths and weaknesses of students, and provide a basis for eligibility for higher levels of education. This forces them to think that exams are important assessments in which they must excel in. As a result, this induces stress on students, affecting their psychological health. Despite that, some people say that exams are a blessing. Through exams, students of a higher ability are able to stand out from the rest which allows them to receive opportunities beyond the norm. Tests nowadays are being used as a factor to determine students who will receive awards, better opportunities and recognition. For example, the PSAT is often given in the 10th grade to students across the nation. If a student is a National Merit Scholar due to the results on this test, they are offered scholarships and other forms of recognition. Also, for example, the SAT and ACT are two common tests that form part of a student's entrance application to colleges. Additionally, students might be required to take additional exams to get into special programs or be placed properly in classes. 

Shernice Phuah assignment 4

Some may argue that exams are a curse as weaker students may be easily discouraged if they do not do well in exams. This is because they will feel inferior to the rest and slowly widen the gap between their friends and themselves, due to the lost of motivation to study. Daveson Beron was found with a gunshot wound in the right temple after receiving failing grades. A laptop was found with a message written on its screen: "I'm sorry, I quit." However, what people fail to notice is that these exams should serve to motivate students to do better instead of bringing them down. If a student did badly in an exam, they should not be demoralized, rather they should be paying more attention in class so they can do better for their next exams. Thomas Edison once said "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." Having bad results does not serve to bring oneself down but rather to remind one that there are always room for improvements. Academically weaker students should be working towards a goal of improving instead of being down just because of bad results. Only when one puts their heart to it and strive to achieve their goal with perseverance can they succeed in achieving it, and this will in turn motivate the teachers to help them achieve the goal as well. Therefore, exams serve as a blessing because it allows one to be motivated despite their results and for both teachers and students to work towards a common goal.

Ong Shi Qing (9), Renise Ngo (11) - 4B

Are Exams In Our Education System A Curse or A Blessing?

We feel that exams in our education system is a curse rather than a blessing.

Tests do not allow students to develop other interests of their own as well as they should. From the article The Purpose of Tests, it is said that the root intention of examinations are to identify student strengths and weaknesses. Although this may be true, the modern education system is largely devoted to subjects like science, mathematics etc. that may not be students’ strengths. There are many youths who are diversely talented in many areas yet education systems often do not provide enough platforms for them to showcase their talent. Instead, tests are used to gauge how well students perform in these standardised subjects and not on their actual strengths. For example, students who are exceptionally well versed in art, yet get terrible grades are written off as “useless” just because they are unable to do well academically and probably cannot attain a well-paying job in the future. Quoting Sir Ken Robinson, “human talent is tremendously diverse” and “people have very different aptitudes”. According to fact 7 of Standardised Testing and Its Victims, "The time, energy, and money that are being devoted to preparing students for standardised tests have to come from somewhere." Many leisure and co-curricular activities are being sacrificed just so students can focus on getting good grades for their test. This causes students to neglect their own passion and talents because they focus too much on their academics. The idea of pursuing one’s dreams and following your heart has all become distant in a student’s mindset, restricting students’ ability to be able to think for themselves, and do what they want to achieve in the future. Rather than identifying strengths and weaknesses, examinations are constricting the talents of students, making them unable to follow their passions and achieve what they would like themselves to be doing. However, some may argue that tests allow students to gauge their abilities, be it in the arts or the academics. Exams do not necessarily prevent them from pursuing their dreams as they could be doing so and yet still have examinations because they need to know where they stand among the other students. Nonetheless, we still feel that students do not learn to think critically through standardised tests and examinations. These only teach them to memorise and learn through rote learning, in which case they do not really learn anything useful for life at all. As quoted from Let's Teach Students to Think Critically, Not Test Mindlessly, "memorization is the easy part; applying academic thought to real-world problems is the greater challenge." Tests do not allow students to practise what actually matters in the real world: being able to solve problems and make use their creativity to make the world a better place. These standardised tests only make the students focus on grades, grades, and more grades, as if it could feed them for life. People think that students who can ace any test will bring them prosperity in the future, but in fact it will only bring about their downfall, if there is a lack in people for other areas.

4C TRAVIS TAN AND YEO YONG LIANG

ARE EXAMS IN OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM A CURSE OR A BLESSING ?

I feel that exams in our education system are a curse.
High-stakes tests are frequently used to assess progress and move students through the academic pipeline towards graduation. In order to prepare the students for these tests, schools are cutting back or even eliminating programs in the arts, and other activities intended to promote social and moral learning. What use is there to mindlessly memorize facts for a test when such knowledge are very likely not to be applied in the future when it comes to dealing with real world problems? Memorization is the easy part; whereas applying academic thought to real-world problems is the greater challenge. In other words, exams in our educations system are encouraging memorization at the expense of cognitive-processing skills. Creativity in thinking is halted due to the fact that creative thinking would not help us do well in tests, which is a major problem in our society now as doing well in tests are far more important than thinking out of the box which could create an idea that would help invent something that would benefit mankind or solve social issues.

Ryan and Jun Han

Are exams in our education a curse or a blessing?

Exams are not a curse. There is a high weightage on national examinations and students who are not used to it might underperform or succumb to the pressure. Frequent exams in our education system enable the students to cope emotionally and get used to the examination mood and environment. In singapore, schools have countless number of tests  for each subject during the school terms. These tests act as revision to ensure students are adequately prepared for major exams such as GCE 'O' and 'A' levels which largely determines their future.
However, I feel that there are many other methods to bring about the same benefits without brining uneccessary stress to the students, which will greatly kill the student's love for learning.

I believe exams are a curse. This is because, the main purpose exams is to rank the students, ironically, the standards of the exams are very high because it is very hard to rank students if their scores are around the the same level. Also, exams force students to be machines, memorising long strings of letters, numbers and facts temporarily for the next exam, and not truly understanding what they are actually memorising, thus the students arent learning, they are just absorbing like a sponge. Schools are now cutting back on lessons like arts to have more funds and squeeze out more time to prepare students for academic exams, this leads to students not being able to find their passion in different areas outside the academics sector, and many of their talents are not developed and are wasted.

Xin Ni and Lucia (4C)

In our opinion, exams in our education is a curse. The purpose of having tests and exams are to identify how much the student understands and their strength and weakness. However, in the current century, tests are instead used to determine one's ability on memorizing information. Schools have been giving students materials and resources to memorise and score well for the test instead of explaining and making sure the students understand what they are learning. Education should not only be about memorising skills but should emphasise more on problem solving and creativity skills that can be used in the working society. Exams then creates the lack of the ability to apply academic thought to real-world problems. Also, education should be a way of closing the gap between low-income students and their wealthier counterparts. However, the exams today are doing the exact opposite. Low-income students are unable to afford the resources needed to actually have the enrichment they need. Without enrichment, they lose out to the wealthier students academically, especially in exams. This gap between the two will not close. Exams should be given to see how well the students can apply the skills they learned for life, and not to see how well they memorize.

Cheryl (2) & Cherith (7) 4B

Are exams in our education a curse or a blessing?

Some may argue that exams are a blessing because it identifies what students have learnt, and what are their strengths and weaknesses. It allows them to focus on the areas that they are weaker on and be able to improve their skills on that particular subject. However, we think that exams in our education is a curse. Standardised tests only measure superficial learning as the tests are short and the answers need to be standard. It is a test to see our memorisation skills, but problem solving, creativity collaboration are not tested. Studies have shown that students in America who have less exams, have more flexible thinking equipped with ingenuity, compared to average students who undergo a series of tests on a regular basis. Students can only think in a straight line accordingly to what they have been taught, but they cannot apply what they know in real life. If that is the case, what is the point of having tests? In today's education system, tests have been contorted into a curse as they only measure superficial learning and limits one's real potential.

Wei Qing and Tiffany (4C)

2. ARE EXAMS IN OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM A CURSE OR A BLESSING ? 

In our very own opinions, exams in our education system are definitely a curse.  Although exams have its own pros, it also had cons that affect most students.

Exams are a curse as they focus too much on knowledge than arts. To achieve a good reputation for schools, schools will choose to concentrate on good academic results. Thus, resulting in the sacrificing time used for arts, which is an important element for life. Arts have been known to create the world we live in. From Shakespeare to Beethoven, ranging from plays to music, they have given us much insights that no odinary textbook could. However, schools have chosen to neglect it. leaving it in the dust where nobody touches it. Students' life has been now more and more inclined towards shaping the society into a knowledge-based society instead of a arts and culture one. Where is arts' position in students' life? Knowledge is just secondary factor in being able to survive in this society. Arts promote the crativity, beautifies the culture and unites people. Thus, with the current education system neglecting it, schools are a curse more than a blessing.

However, people argued that rather than being a curse, it is more of a blessing in disguise. Education provides the knowledge for us to create something. In a way, the education system is building foundation for creativity to grow. For example, inventing are considered as a form of creativity. Without any knowledge, how can one invent something useful for the society? Thus, instead of blaming the school for neglecting arts, why not think of it as building foundation for arts.

Therefore, exams in our education system are a curse.

CHUA ZHENG QIAN (18), THADDAEUS TAN (21) 4C

Are exams in our education system a curse or a blessing?

We feel that exams in our education system is a curse, as it diminishes the cognitive-thinking ability in children and supresses their creativity, and provides an inaccurate gauage of an individual's learning potential. Firstly, exams in our education system are straying off their initial objective of identifying the strengths and weaknesses of our pupils, and are instead used as measures of effectiveness and intelligence of schools and pupils. From the article " The purpose of tests", it has been stated that exams are being used to measure a teacher or school's effectiveness, and that exams are being used to judge a student based on merit, to provide entry into internships or college. From the above information, we can infer that schools are now gearing students solely for the sake of examinations so that teachers can obtain raises in merit, while schools can access higher funding if they produce students capable of excellent results. The SAT and ACT are common tests used to form part of a student's entrance application to college. As such, students are now prepared by teachers to approach such tests in an efficient manner for both their personal achievement and future, and the future and status of the school and its educators. They lack a well rounded education which brings forth their creativity, instead, their innate ability to be creative is suppressed due to pressure of conforming to the norms, whereby memorisation is seen as the most efficient way of studying for an exam.  Even if students are willing to deviate from the norms and think out of the box, they are not encouraged to, as mentioned in article "Standardized testing and its victims", high stakes exams are being introduced or already taking place in most states, and the ones who tend to excel at such tests are those who rely on superficial and shallow learning. Even the schools are cutting down on enrichment programs and acitvites meant for the promotion of social and moral learning, and even lessons regarding other subjects,for the sake of solely focusing on the subject being tested. If schools are that desperate to raise the scores they produce, it is no wonder students raised in such an environment would undoubtably follow suit and choose superficial memorisation over unnecessary creativity and thought processing skills. From article "Against mindless testing- what do we really test?", Superintendent Josh Starr maintains that a relentless focus on high-stakes testing is, at best, misguided and, at worst, may limit the ability of future generations to solve society's problems. Along with him, many have come to fear the detrimental impacts of memorization at the expense of cognitive processing skills, and ability to evaluate decisions and analyse situations. Yet, most schools continue to spend an inordinate amount of time preparing students for the high stakes tests, via loads of practice papers and specific test preparation materials. This is already a mindset set into the place of educational institutes and leaders, that scores on tests are relative to the success of an individual and prosperity he or she might bring. Therefore, students are shifitng from creative thinkers to mindless memorisation robots, but given our environment, we are mostly helpless and left to conform to society's norms. Also, schools across the country are cutting back or even eliminating programs in the arts, recess for young children, electives for high schoolers, class meetings (and other activities intended to promote social and moral learning), discussions about current events (since that material will not appear on the test), the use of literature in the early grades (if the tests are focused narrowly on decoding skills), and entire subject areas such as science (if the tests cover only language arts and math). Anyone who doubts the scope and significance of what is being sacrificed in the desperate quest to raise scores has not been inside a school lately. This makes students 'studying machines', and students only go to school just to prepare for tests rather than building up character. Over time,this will have an impact on society as some people may have poor moral values, which may lead to increased crime, sexism, racism, etc. Therefore, we find that exams in our education system is a curse, as it rids us of opportunities and ability to perform cognitive thinking and express creativity, and instead focuses on superficial learning methods which ensure high examination scores to the benefit of schools, teachers and the assessment of students themselves and gives less time for social and moral learning of the students. 

Jodie Suwe and Hew Ying Xin 4B

ARE EXAMS IN OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM A CURSE OR A BLESSING? 
Exams in our education has many negative effects thus making it a curse. Exams in schools happen so often that it has become such a prominent role in schooling, and students as young as 8 years old have to take these tests. For example, in Singapore, secondary students have at least one test almost every week before the final exams at the end of the year. Even in primary school, exams happen 4 times a year for the students even in primary one.  Because of all these tests, students are not taught practical skills and classes like arts are cancelled at many schools just because of the heavy focus on grades. In China, most students excel on tests, including international assessments in reading, writing and mathematics, but lack in thinking critically or creatively. These are negative effects as students are not taught essential life skills like critical thinking which are needed when they enter the workforce.All the information that we learnt in our daily life of school is hardly put into use when we grow older as now bosses look less at qualifications and more for skills like flexibility and critical thinking.In addition having test as young as the age of 8 results in unnecessary stress which will rob them of the happy childhood that they should be having at that age and not bombardment of exams which do not teach practical life skills.Therefore, exams are a curse as they happen too often and students are not able to learn practical skills.
However,some people may argue that tests are a way to evaluate value of a programme and a teacher's ability.This is because if there is no presence of tests,they would not be able to identify the ability of each student since every students ability is different and then we are able to give appropriate guidance to each and every student according to their ability.An example is consultation for results,they will ask a selected few people with not so desirable grades to go for consultation for certain subjects and "assume" that those people with desirable grades can handle themselves.Even though some people may think that way but there are other ways to evaluate a person's ability and not only exams for example the school can give a more practical test rather than theory.Therefore,exams in our education system is a curse.

Ling Xuan & Fan Xi ( 4C )

2. Are exams in our education system a curse or a blessing?

We believe that exams in our education system are a curse because they contradict the purpose of education. The goal of education should be to teach our children how to think, not what to memorise in order to get a good grade in an examination. The Huffington Post supports our thesis, stating that "students are flooded with isolated facts that are forgotten once the pencil is put down, never again revisited as curriculum and instructional focus shifts to the next test". The above emphasizes the fact that curriculum in our education system revolves around throwing students material to memorize, and scoring well every test is all that matters, instead of learning how to solve problems and think critically, which is what education should be about. Also, in " Standardized Teaching and Its Victims", it is mentioned that standardized-test scores often measure superficial thinking. This means that exams assess students on shallow learning, not on whether education has fulfilled its purpose. Hence, we believe that examinations are a curse because they contradict the purpose of education.
However, exams in our education system might be a blessing because they serve as a feedback mechanism for teachers. For example, if there is a specific topic that students do poorly on, teachers will be able to tell from their exam results, and place more emphasis on what the students are weak in, thus aiding their improvement. Without examinations as a form of assessment that evaluates students' learning and understanding, there is no gauge that exists for teachers to know the progress of their students. Hence, examinations might also be a blessing. 

Andrea and He Ying (4C)

Some may choose to argue that exams in our education is a blessing, as it provides a standard entry to higher level of education and it is a standardise way to determine a student's capability. For example, the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) is a gauge as to how capable the students are in studies, and hence giving them the aid to choose the school which is more suitable for their academic abilities. Such a form of assessment is also perceived as a fair method of judging a student's ability. As it provides everyone an equal platform to further their education, it is argued that exams are a blessing. However, we believe that exams in our education system is a curse, as exams focus more on short term skill acquisition rather than long term implementation. As mentioned by Sir Ken Robinson, our education system is based on a "linear concept", and a single path to a fixed definition of success has been designed and is being tirelessly imposed on students. This implies that the education system that we have adopted only aims at the ultimate success at profitable sectors of the students, and rarely do they care about factors, such as whether do students really understand what they are teaching and are able to execute them in the future or are students only learning it for the sake of exams and forgetting it after the exams. Hence by having this "linear concept", students only focus on doing well for the exams and not learning as a life long skill that they can use. This point is further supported by a quote from the Huffington Post: "We are encouraging memorization at the expense of cognitive-processing skills that enable people to ... evaluate the consequences of their decisions". Additionally, standardized exams are major determinants of a child's future and career choices, regardless of his passion or ambition. This means that all students have to undergo this exams based education system, which often does not ensure them a career in the future, since it might not be what students dream to be. For instance, all students even if their ambition is to become an artists, have to learn math and science formulas, which no doubt will not give them any aid in the art field. Further more, in a study published by Journal of Educational Psychology, it was observed that high test scores were achieved by students who exhibited the superficial approach to thinking. Such students do not further analyze what they are being taught and simply accept the facts, memorize them and regurgitate them to obtain remarkable scores. Hence, exams are no doubt a curse in our education system since they often do not care about whether students really acquire the skills that they are trying to impose, or students memorize facts for the sake of exams.

Felicia Yee & Leandra Nair 4B

2. ARE EXAMS IN OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM A CURSE OR A BLESSING ? 

People supporting the view that exams are a blessing might state that tests are designed to close the poverty gap between the low-income students and those from a wealthier family. In exams, every student gets an equal chance to do well and students from low-income families might be able to get scholarships for further education, which they might not have been able to attain given their financial situation.
However, we feel that exams in our education system are a curse as it widens the poverty gap instead of bridging it. It intensifies the disparity between the two groups. Children from wealthier families would have more finances to guide their learning while low-income families might even struggle to pay the school fees and would have little finances for things like tuition. Poverty rate is one of the variables that account for 89% of differences in test scores in a study of math results in the 1992 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Hence in conclusion, tests are a curse as they are an unfair judgement of a students' progress and do not bridge the poverty, widening it instead.