Education ought to be more than just exam scores

Two rows of students, considered naughty or not performing well academically, sit an exam outside a classroom at a middle school in Jinxian county, East China's Jiangxi province, Nov 8, 2011. The temperature dropped by a dozen degrees and many students were shivering in the cold. [Photo/CFP]

A pupil in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province was reduced to tears by his mother, because of his poor performance in a math exam. The boy scored two points lower than the class average of 96. Among 40 students in the class, 14 got the full marks. Rednet.cn comments:

It is true that exam scores are very important to students. But the pupil still scored a respectable 94. It is astounding to discover that his mother still felt dissatisfied with her son's performance and unleashed her anger on him.

Parents want their children to have a bright future. How to make sure they will have one is of great concern to their parents and debates about the importance of exams never cease.

Many parents push their kids to excel. It is not unusual for so-called tiger moms or wolf fathers to resort to extreme treatment, such as beatings, if their children fail to live up to expectations.

But such parenting may not only hurt a child's self-esteem it may also damage them psychologically. Harsh treatment can inhibit the development of a child's personality and is not conducive to fostering creativity and independent thought.

But it is not all the fault of parents. It is the examination-oriented education system that pushes the parents to pursue high scores rather than the overall well-being of their children. Schools and teachers also focus on students getting high exam scores, spurring parents to push their children even more. Students gradually turn into exam machines, and lose any passion they had for learning.

To change this state of affairs requires the education authority to completely change the exam-oriented education system by implementing reform. It is the only way that schools and parents can really get rid of the shackles of high exam scores being the be-all and end-all.