The purpose of foundation education is to nurture our kids to be somebody with integrity to flourish in their community someday. But our culture has long treated it as a competition among kids. Instead of the subject knowledge itself, examination skills have become professional knowledge on their own. Undoubtedly, education is in our culture distorted. In terms of education, an examination is a summative assessment for the next miles of our kids’ learning. In some developing areas, it may be unavoidable a way to manage the limited educational resources of the community. The kids should strive for the resources at all costs to earn a better living. Yet, is it the case in Hong Kong? Competition can be a means of education, it is neutral itself, but it can be unhealthy when it causes us to sin by trying to win at all costs. Cheating will be a more serious educational issue if our culture does not manage the competition well. “Athletes cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules. – 2 Timothy 2:5”. When winning is everything, we almost always compromise our integrity, the very purpose of foundation education.
