Some say keep the Common Entrance Examination, others say scrap it.
When we asked our Facebook readers if they believed 11-Plus exam should be scrapped, or retained the views were mixed.
Those in favour of the 11-plus, as it is commonly called, believed it was the best form of assessment and a way to test students’ performances at the primary level.
Readers who called for it to be abolished, did not believe it was a fair system, adding that it had outlived its usefulness.
Most agreed though that the problem was not the exam itself, but the labeling and stereotyping that is attached to schools and the students.
The following are some of the views shared on this issue.
Enlyg Cram: “The 11 plus examination allows for students to be placed amongst other students with the same capabilities. So this is perhaps one of the advantages of this examination since teachers will be better able to cater to the learning abilities of everyone if they are on the same page. Alternatively, like most if not all examinations, a student is given one shot, and with this being said, on that particular day, the student at hand, may not have given their best because of sickness for example or intense pressure from parents and or teachers, so the result is that the student could not have scored as high as they could have if they were working at their best. The main problem I see with the examination is the labelling that is attached to specified schools. If a student does not pass for one of the “top” schools they are regarded as a slow learners etc. So the exam leads to a lot of stereotyping of the schools and students, with parents placing too much pressure on their children so that they could possibly pass to a “high” school. It is acknowledged that obviously children will learn differently and that everyone will not be able to grasp and understand concepts at the same time. It is accepted that they are all children and should not be stereotyped because of their learning abilities. Where ever a student is placed is key, and this is why I would respectfully submit that the examination perhaps should not be scrapped, since the student is not placed in an environment where the teacher has to try to meet the demands of different learning abilities of other students , but can go on the premise that they are all on the same page and so conduct the affairs of the classroom in such a manner so as to further develop the capabilities of the students, at a level of teaching which they all will be able to work with. What should be scrapped is the narrow minded attitude that people have as it relates to a “top” school or “low” school.
Piper Jordan: “It should be kept. This form of examination shows how much the children have retained during the primary school stage of education. I also believe more can be done for the children taking this examination. For example, workshops can be held in the community centers focusing on subjects such as English, Math, and Comprehension on weekends for children in classes three and four so they can get a head start with extra work to aid them in ensuring at least a passing grade. This would help children whose parents cannot afford extra lessons .
Renee Edwards: “Sure, keep it. However, a general assessment should be done of a student’s performance prior to taking the exam. Some students do not cope well under exam conditions especially if they are under extreme pressure to perform well in order to get into an “older secondary school”. While keeping the exam would be a good thing I also think that a child’s general performance at primary school should be taken into consideration. All the preparation that is done to prepare a child for this exam implies that a child’s future depends on the grade he or she receives in the 11-plus. I personally believe that it’s not the school you go to, it is what you do while you are there that determines who you become”.
Cherry Worrell: “Doing away with the Common Entrance Exam would not be the right way to go. The exam is only administered to each in-coming secondary student once. I think that is good. In the U.S. they have standardized tests every year, so some parents feel as if their children are being taught to take the test. Understandably, students will be nervous taking tests that will determine their immediate future. I had the privilege of having excellent, caring, nurturing teachers along the way at my alma mater, Hindsbury Primary. They never taught to any test. In any case, many of us know of children who went to the “good schools” that didn’t amount to a ‘hill of beans’. It’s what you take away from your years at any school that will truly prepare you for your future”.
Matthew Clarke: “Keep the exam, the 11-plus allows persons to go to schools based on their performance and not how much money they have or social background.”
Papa Stuart: “I think that it should be scraped. It is not a fair system for all. There are children that have learning disabilities who are highly intelligent that are lost. This system pre-supposes that every child matures the same pace. Amongst this grouping there are children who are late learners. I believe this system causes us to lose a vast amount of our intellectual and inventive brain power. They are all our children”
Winston Crichlow: “The Common Entrance has outlived its usefulness long time ago. The only reason that it is still around is because we as a nation do not trust our own. The public does not trust their own teachers to be honest and fair and even teachers don’t trust their colleagues. The ‘propagators’ of this exam don’t trust the people who they employ to be fair and above board so every year we have this same pointless discussion.
Kimberley Williams: “Time for this exam to be eliminated from the lives of children. This exam has been portrayed as one of the biggest events in a child’s life that will determine how successful it will be in the future. Teachers have used it to gloat and brag of how many of their students made it to certain ‘top’ schools and parents have pressured children to get to this and that school all in the name of saving face.
The belief is that if you attend certain schools you will be a nobody. You are ‘duncy’ and ‘stupid’; you are labelled at 11 years old as a failure or a success. I know children who could not read at age eight and nine (for various reasons) and after receiving help actually took the Common Entrance and achieved much based on where they were coming from but these children are not the ones who are ‘bigged up’ for their achievements they are overlooked by many especially the media. What pressure and rejection for a child. This exam process needs to be removed. Children are different and so you can’t use the same measuring stick for all”.
Paul Sivers: “Time for it to go. Too many of our children are written off at 11 years old. I think a general assessment of the children entering primary school will be better just doing English and Math.”
