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International examinations: handmaidens of a good school?
Posted By: Amran on January 17, 2009 at 10:21 amThe IGCSE is a popular internationally recognized examination that more schools in Southeast Asia are opting to participate in. There is nothing wrong with this because there are some real advantages of taking the examinations. The most important perhaps is that it is universally-recognized as an entrance examinations for furthering one’s education especially in the English-speaking world. This is in large part due to its parent examination syndicate, the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) syndicate, having been around for a long time in this area. It is also due to the relative security and impartiality of the examinations as compared to local examinations in some Southeast Asia where “irregularities” during and after examinations is far from irregular. Participating in the IGCSE also means that the schools concerned would have to put a greater emphasis on the English Language. This would force the students in the school to pick up what is often regarded as the international language for commerce and science.
However, it would be a mistake for schools in countries in Southeast Asia, like Indonesia and Vietnam, and even in China, to believe that taking such an examination will make them a good school with an international curriculum. Overseas educational consultants from elsewhere have been selling the idea that the IGCSE will change them into good schools plus they also pander to the gullibility of parents in those countries about what is a good education.
All examinations, not only the IGCSE, that have the nett effect of schools getting teachers to only teach to the examinations is bad. Such an approach to school will not result in schools becoming good schools but only good examination preparation centers. While this may secure for the students placings in higher educational institutions, what is left behind through under-emphasis is the other skills which are deemed to be more important for anyone to succeed in the 21st century. The dictum, “what is not tested will not learned”, will come true. Therefore schools who still do want to take advantage of the IGCSE must also be aware of this pitfall of becoming nothing more than just examination prepartion centers. They must also be wary of educational consultants who only peddle international examinations and little else.
| Filed Under: Assessment , Directions in education , learning Tagged with Cambridge International Examinations, China, educational consultants, IGCSE, Indonesia, internasional, schools. sekolah. international, Southeast Asia, Vietnam |
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Interesting post, I think the IGCSE will grow more and more popular. State schools in the UK now use IGCSE.
Popularity is not the issue. The issue is whether the IGCSE prepare students with the skills to be effective in the 21st century workplace. Examination syndicates, of which your IGCSE is one, that seem to provide only largely written examinations that assess a very low level of competency in terms of the skills required for the 21st century workplace. This is well-known not only among educators but also employers. Such examinations usually only lead to, as pointed out in my article, to teachers teaching to the test which usually in turn results in rote-learning and the memorization of mechanical operations. Parents who themselves are the product of the same system, may not see these major drawbacks of the examinations like those provided by the IGCSE.
My mother was assigned to run a textile factory in Vietnam and she’s been there for 6 months. She finds it very difficult to live there since she only know 4 people that speak english. If students in south-east Asia would learn english, then in the future these countries would have an economic burst due to overseas business.
Your mum comes from an English-speaking country perhaps. So she has problems adjusting to a non-English-speaking country. But it is not true that you MUST know English to do well in the commercial world. Japan, for example, has been doing well despite the near absence of the English language in their schools.