The Common Entrance Trap

Trapped in a hole

Unable to get out

And in another couple of days

Another bout.

Of stresses and fears

Of disappointments and tears

Of selection and rejection

And dejected stares.

“D” day it is called

When this scourge comes around,

No bad schools all good schools

But disparities abound.

The crème de la crème

Guaranteed the top

And many of the less privileged

At the bottom left to rot.

A real trap it is

Can we not see it?

Maybe, a useful tool in the past

But should now exit.

Mixed abilities we advocate

In our primary schools

But bright ones here and others there

Via the Common Entrance tool.

No bad schools all good schools

Yet there’s a pecking order

And for every secondary school

There is a specific border.

From the top to the bottom

Determined by the scores

And secondly the choices of parents

Nothing less nothing more.

Whether perceived or real

A trap is a trap

And the Common Entrance is,

It’s definitely a trap.

  

It preempts best practice

Forcing teaching to the test

Where students with good memory

Always do the best.

It thwarts problem-solving skills

There’s so little time,

Formulas are memorized

And critical thinking is left behind.

Keeping those at the top

Which are off to a quick start

And maintaining the status quo

With which we dare not part.

After all, there is a tradition

And tradition must be maintained

And if you happen to be down

That too must be sustained.

“My Father went there

And I went there too,

That is surely the best school

And so must you.

“When I look in the tabloids

For the ten at the top

You must there my son/daughter

Right in that top spot.”

Education is about equality

But all are not equal,

No bad schools all good schools

But some for certain people.

Leaving no one behind

Has been a declared policy

But some schools have been left

What abject lunacy!

Perceived ‘good teachers’

Depends on where they teach,

The otherwise are blamed

For every rule their students breach.

Surely at certain schools

Such a problem will not occur,

Thereat are the ‘good teachers’

Whom nothing can deter.

A teacher feels victimized

If transferred to a certain school,

And this sometimes happens

When teachers flout the rules.

At both primary and secondary

The perception is rife,

Some schools are inherently good

While others are not so nice.

The Common Entrance is a trap

In the way that it is used,

While in itself it could be useful

Currently, it is abused.

Being the sole determinant

And premised on a single score

Makes it a high stakes exam

Fraught with problems galore.

It would be so much better

If the exam were used for teaching

Instead of the trap it now is

Here is where I end my preaching.

Stewart Russell © April 2019