A SEA of Confusion
Oh, what a tangled web we weave when a senior official sends out communication without the Executive’s leave. With one letter, the death of two children one by drowning and the other allegedly through being punished took a back seat. As of April 7, 2022 there is now a battle as to who is the SEA top performer and who should be recognised as such.
Based on the letters being issued back and forth it would appear that in 2020 a top SEA performer was named. Thereafter, due to a request to have a child’s paper remarked there appears to be a situation whereby the announced top performer may have actually been 2nd in line. This is a situation that should not have arisen, in fact, there is an easier solution.
The Ministry of Education can elect to not announce the top performer on the day that SEA results are announced but wait until all requests for remarks have been entertained and then assess from a confirmed list. Several things happened upon the exchange of letters, first it was agreed that both children will receive the Gold Medal, despite only one being the person to actually earn it.
Secondly, the Ministry is now considering abolishing the announcement of the top performer.
I don’t intend this week to explore the legalities of the situation which the Ministry of Education has found itself in, I do not intend to explain the legitimate expectation which the acknowledged top performer may have to receive an award. I intend instead to consider SEA as it may appear to our children.
Consider this instead—at the starting line we have a little musician, a chef, engineer and artist, the winner will be the one who quickly completes a complicated mathematics question. The winner is then raised above the rest for the country to glorify.
Very few see the slight bow of the heads of the others, the dullness in their once gleaming eyes.
What we did by placing such emphasis on this one test, was tell our children that we weren’t concerned with how well you could paint, that you can cook beyond anyone your age, we only cared about how well you sat one exam. Our educators have set a standard by which each child of SEA age will be assessed, not taking into consideration their unique skills, talents or individuality.
To gain entrance to secondary school and most importantly to secure a place in what appears to be the coveted schools we have created an examination engineered towards sorting children into certain groups based on their mathematics, grammar and creative writing skills which culminates our children’s primary school life.
Our Ministry of Education, on the much-anticipated day of the results, quickly announces the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners who are given various prizes and treats while their not so successful counterparts look on. The Ministry has failed to examine or analyse the large percent of our children who fall below the accepted standards of SEA or attempt to address the necessary assistance they may need.
I have always enjoyed Disney movies. I recall in Mulan, one particular scene where her father is having a chat with her under the cherry blossom tree. Mulan had not impressed the match maker and her father said, “My, my, what beautiful blossoms we have this year. But look! This one’s late.
But I’ll bet that when it blooms, it will be the most beautiful of all.” How telling that one line is. We test our children between the ages of 11-12, not all have blossomed or matured at that time to appreciate the seriousness of SEA. Not all of these children have access to extra lessons, or a dedicated support system.
Not all are learning and comprehending at the same pace, it does not mean that they will not go on to achieve academically or do extraordinary things in life, it simply means that they are not all equally equipped for SEA, but they are all judged in the same manner.
At the age of 11 we have welcomed our children to the rat race, from school, to lessons, to additional studies for two or three years they are deprived of a childhood in an attempt to impress, their parents more than themselves.
My niece wrote SEA this year and I looked on at the immense pressure placed on her little shoulders. To my niece and all other children who have written SEA, do not worry if you do not pass for your first or second choice.
A school does not define you, what defines you is what you do with what you have. All children blossom at different rates, you will blossom too, reach for the stars and don’t let anyone tell you that it is beyond your reach. You do not need to be a top performer or have a gold medal to understand the greatness of your own individuality and battles. We are not all the same.
Pavitra Ramharack is Head of Chambers at Pavitra Ramharack Attorneys at Law and can be reached at ramharack_pavitra@outlook. com