Our schools consist of assignments, quizzes, and exams. We study and review the notes we've taken all year in preparation for the moment we sit at a desk to put that knowledge to the test. Today exams and tests are a core part of the education system.
Tests are supposed to see how much information a student has retained and what topics they need to refresh their memory. However, tests have become ways of measuring your worth and being "good" enough to advance in your education. We determine one's intelligence by where they fall on a numeric scale, which is detrimental to one's self-worth. Two-thirds of young people are experiencing "worrying levels" of exam stress.
As human beings, we are all different, and we all learn in different ways. Not everyone can recite the information that they have learned by completing a test. Should we measure learning and intelligence through pieces of paper, or a global perspective, experience, and open-mindedness? Will you ask yourself this question now, or after you've spent the first decades studying for exams that have taught you almost nothing more about how to be a functioning member of society?
Written by Isa Edwards
Artwork by Izzy Johns
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