Writing Question:
It has recently been reported that some secondary schools in Hong Kong are drilling their junior form students to prepare for the Basic Competency Assessments (BCA) to ensure that they get the highest scores possible.
Write a letter to the Young Post stating whether you agree with these schools’ actions or not. Justify your position with three reasons.
Dear Editor,
The recent discourse about junior form students drilling for the Basic Competency Assessments (BCA) has stirred up conflicting feelings and sent droves of people out in protest as it is not a pleasant sight for many. While some paint a rosy picture of this phenomenon, I tend to be a bit more conservative on this issue as these schools’ actions are objectionable.
It should be rather apparent that junior form students are the main victims who bear a great deal of pressure. Schools drilling their students for the BCA for a long time makes students fatigued as they have a lot to juggle at school already, not only regular courses and homework, but also extra practice. It is deeply saddening that students may need to multitask as their workloads increase. Children easily feel nerve-racking and stressful with this unbearable workload. Moreover, long-time drilling leads to mental and physical exhaustion. A psychiatrist from St. Teresa’s Hospital pointed out that heavy practice makes children feel smothered and suffocated under the oppr ession, pressure gradually comes to our lovely children. Lamentably, children become machines of drilling and cannot get a well-rounded development. Long time practice also dominates students’ lives, leading to the fact that children cannot find a balance in their life when it comes to studying, entertaining, extra-curricular activities, etc. When children’s lives are devoted to studying, the pressure gets higher. In no way should children be burdened with insurmountable workloads and pressure. Therefore, the action of drilling students to prepare for the BCA is never a pleasant sight.
When children are suffocating from the pressure of drilling for the BCA, it also has an impact on the nerves of their parents. Some claim that it doesn’t affect parents as much and children are the only victims, but they cannot be more mistaken. How practice is going and whether children can afford it are the chief concerns among parents. There is a video clip online of parents making derogatory comments and disparaging remarks about this action as they are worried about their children’s physical and mental health at all times. What’s more, parents are the role model for their children’s mental development, helping them to release or deal with pressure. Under this oppression for an extended period of time, children may easily think negatively as they can ill-afford it. Most alarming is news about students committing suicide that sends the signal to the public that parents must carefully take care of children’s mental health and help to maintain a positive mind set. With worries deep inside the heart and extra assistance, parents also suffer in this case. When they have to struggle to find the right way of caring for and educating children, it is never an easy feat. Thus, not only does the action of schools drilling students for the BCA harm the students, but also affects parents seriously
Aside from the fact that it brings downsides to both students and parents, this also creates a backlash on the objective of education. Hong Kong is an exam-oriented city and the atmosphere of education is going downhill and worsening. When the objective of education runs counter to its purpose, which originally is to make children literate and understand the essence of life through learning, it now turns to highly focus on scoring. Those who disagree may say that, after all, the results are the most crucial thing because they determine if you are able to get into university. Upon closer scrutiny, this seemingly compelling suggestion is nothing more than a half-baked idea and it is just muddying the waters. As the saying goes, “Learning is more than scoring”. The final result is only a reflection of your ability; we should never bark up the wrong tree. The idea of drilling students to get the highest score is totally an abhorrent and ludicrous action. When the purpose of education becomes pursuing higher scores, it influences the perception of children to think that high marks are the only thing they should ask for, which is preposterous. It is never an overstatement to say that the action of schools drilling students for the BCA contributes to the backlash on the objective of education as we should never focus solely on scoring.
In conclusion, drilling for the BCA has negative impacts on students and parents, and at the same time damages the atmosphere of education in Hong Kong. Schools, the Education Bureau and even society at large should think carefully about this wretched idea and abandon it in order to protect our kids from further harm.
Yours faithfully,
Mavis Li
