School holidays

The first semester school break is here, but we're not going off for a holiday.

Nia has extra classes the first week Monday to Thursday, Syira has to go back to school that Friday. Nia is sitting for UPSR, Syira is sitting for SPM. Gone were the days when a break is a break, regardless of whether you have a big exam to sit for or not. But with exams getting to be more high stakes, in contrary to the move towards assesment for learning, schools are not leaving it to the parents to get their kids ready for the exam. This means teachers also have to give up their break. Is this good for everyone concerned?

We're still focusing on assessment of learning, not assessment for learning. Yet we wonder why we're still not producing truly excellent students, whose string of As in their examination result is also reflected in their character, their poise, their communication, thier thinking skills, their ethics. Instead, we hear laments of A-students who cannot use the language well, the one that they scored an A in, of students who cannot seem to think outside the box, of students who lacks civic consciousness.

Ibu went a little off tangent :). Perhaps due to the frustration in not being able to coordinate activities because even during the school holidays, our children don't belong to us. Not that I don't want them to do well in their exams, that's important, but what's also important is family, what's also important is allowing then to flourish in other ways that are not assessed through the current exam system.