Tangled and the title of excellence

On the certificate of merit of a third grade student at a private school in Hanoi , it recognized her... "with the title of Rapunzel and the sweet things she brought this school year".

Her mother said that every student in the class had certificates like that. There was no pressure to get good grades, no pressure to excel, just warmth and genuine compliments for the children.

During a boat trip up the river to the school in Dakrong ( Quang Tri ), the school's accountant said that she took advantage of going down to the plains to buy many certificates of merit, the number of certificates was 3-4 times more than the number of students.

Because schools really need "praise", not just at the end of the semester or year, but also when students make progress. Not only praise for good study, but also praise for hard work, coming to school on time, keeping hands and feet clean, knowing how to give way to friends... Praise to make children excited, happy, and love going to school, competing with each other to study hard.

What about official praise? There are regulations and the initiative and flexibility are in the hands of schools and teachers.

There are many changes in the education sector's regulations on student assessment, which emphasize regular assessment of students' progress in ability, attitude, and emotions during the learning and training process.

Praising students does not only look at the final result but also requires the teacher to accompany and encourage the child's efforts and progress.

There are also many other regulations that aim at personalization in education, valuing and encouraging the different strengths of each student. Good students are not only good at literature or math, but can also excel in fine arts, physical education, extracurricular activities, sharing and helping friends, discipline or responsibility...

But most parents today only care about the final result. That is the certificate of merit with the title of good, excellent. And looking from a scientific perspective, it is difficult to have many excellent students in all fields, even though the requirements for primary school students are not high.

That's why parents are disappointed because their children "only completed but not completed well" and "failed with distinction". "Excellence" has invisibly become the only goal that children must strive for and achieve.

It is no longer a true compliment, it does not bring happiness, warmth, sweetness but stress.

And the unfortunate thing is that agencies, organizations, and associations for promoting learning and talent have not updated the changes in the regulations for evaluating and rewarding students to have more diverse forms of praise, closer to reality and able to encourage more children. Everywhere, we only see praise for students with good and excellent titles.

Too many talented and excellent students in a class can also make the education sector skeptical and criticized. Because of the lack of the letter H, one less excellent student, the school and teachers can also become targets of criticism.

Every manifestation shows that the mentality of chasing after superficial things always exists and resonates with the whole society.

No one asks the children: Do you prefer the title "Tangled" or "Excellent Student"?

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cong-chua-toc-may-va-danh-hieu-xuat-sac-20240601094328546.htm