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Governments around the world have recently been taking extra steps to ensure the well-being of younger generations. 18-year-olds n Italy are given a “culture bonus” in order to boost their engagement with the arts. Students in Oregon are encouraged to take mental health days. And, effective in 2020, students in Singapore will no longer be ranked based on their scores in exams.
For years, primary and secondary school students in Singapore have been ranked according to their standardized test scores. This, though, fostered an unhealthy environment fueled by competition—a system that Education Minister Ong Ye Kung views as an inherent threat to education.
So how will students be assessed from now on? For younger students, teachers will use “qualitative descriptors” to evaluate each one’s discussion participation, homework, and other less competitive means. On the other hand, older students will still receive grades; these marks, however, will be rounded off as whole numbers and given without decimal points. With this new approach, On Ye Kung believes students will still find the motivation to do their best—but, hopefully, in themselves rather than in others.
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