The Minister of Education Bernard Drainville wants to have access to conclusive data to evaluate the academic performance of students and compare different school environments. The message sent here is that the primary goal of the school is to teach children to get good grades on ministry exams in French and mathematics. Certainly, developing intellectual skills in these subjects is of the utmost importance. However, the school has many other educational missions such as teaching children how to live together, scientific and artistic curiosity, the joy of learning, a taste for reading, critical thinking and self-esteem. , among others.
How many parents stubbornly maintain the utopian hope of seeing their children one day become top of the class, internationally adored athletes, virtuoso musicians, scientific luminaries, famous writers, famous artists or heads of state! The wealthiest choose private schools or specialized programs. They often demand unrealistic efforts and academic performance from their offspring. Financial and emotional rewards are dangled depending on the child’s success.
Ultimately, most often, the child who is overextended will fail to reach the highest standards desired by his parents and will feel guilty for not having lived up to parental expectations, will develop behavioral problems and low self-esteem or depression.
Social media and the search for likes accentuate this constant presence of unhealthy competition with peers. The slightest physical, gender or psychological difference often leads to ridicule and intimidation. Albert Einstein was expelled from school at the age of fifteen because of his failure in Greek and oral communication.
Recently, the examinations of the Order of Nurses of Quebec have clearly failed to adequately assess the skills acquired by candidates for the profession and demonstrated the often unfair subjectivity of the evaluations and examinations which remain, in my opinion, unreliable for predict the true potential of students. Every year, Japanese students commit suicide following poor grades on university entrance exams.
A pleasant living environment
School must remain a pleasant living environment, conducive to the development of skills, and not a relentless jungle that eliminates losers in competitions. We cannot reduce the value of a young person to their R or Z rating and decide their academic future on the basis of subjective and imperfect evaluations, while imposing cruel and unnecessary stress on students which increases dropout rates.
We should never make a failed student feel guilty, but rather provide them with all the educational and psychological help they need and allow them to improve according to their abilities with complete peace of mind, while giving them back their confidence and desire to learn. . A racialized student, from a broken family, in the middle of an adolescent crisis, from an immigrant background or who is experiencing a heartbreak risks temporary drops in academic performance which in no way reflect his intellectual potential and his ability to succeed. in real life. We do not need to measure the disparities to know that there are not enough remedial teachers, psychologists, guidance counselors and social workers to help vulnerable students.
Yes, students must learn to accept failures with humility and introspection, but we must also do everything to de-dramatize the situation, not make them feel guilty and give them all the tools necessary to optimize their personal progress without undue pressure or unrealistic expectations. The school must provide a stimulating but not stressful or threatening living environment.