Education, standards, testing and their repercussions are quite serious topics so relevant thoughts and opinions on the subject are welcome.
Getting back to the OP, I'd have to declare a sympathy (in general terms) for the examination system, notwithstanding the regular disasters that seem to occur.
Grade 'inflation' shouldn't happen. If teaching standards have improved that should be considered an element which creates an automatic advantage for current pupils over previous years, decades and generations. It isn't a reason for rewarding them with higher marks - why should students be rewarded because teaching standards have improved? In the sense that the public exams create 'competition', that competition is with contemporaries who study and are examined under the same system.
The better the teaching, the better the facilities available to all (from photocopiers to the internet), the higher the bar should be set. Where hundreds of thousands of students are involved, nationwide, you should expect, at least at the top level, a similar result each year - not a steadily improving one.
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Getting back to the OP, I'd have to declare a sympathy (in general terms) for the examination system, notwithstanding the regular disasters that seem to occur.
Grade 'inflation' shouldn't happen. If teaching standards have improved that should be considered an element which creates an automatic advantage for current pupils over previous years, decades and generations. It isn't a reason for rewarding them with higher marks - why should students be rewarded because teaching standards have improved? In the sense that the public exams create 'competition', that competition is with contemporaries who study and are examined under the same system.
The better the teaching, the better the facilities available to all (from photocopiers to the internet), the higher the bar should be set. Where hundreds of thousands of students are involved, nationwide, you should expect, at least at the top level, a similar result each year - not a steadily improving one.
[Discuss ]
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