School asks: Gifted or just well-prepared? by Jun Tian

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Summary: Parents are now sending their children to attend programs to help them prepare for pre-school tests that will determine if they make it to the gifted class. Parents see it as a must for their children to be in the gifted classes as they feel that it is more beneficial, and certainly reflect better on their children. Therefore, their children are sent to attend such courses to help them to be more prepared. However, over the years, there are more cases of these “gifted” students dropping out of the course they are put into because of the test. It becomes evident that they were in the class only because they were prepared for it, and not because they were really gifted. The number of children making it to the gifted course have also increased by several times, showing that the test is becoming quite useless as a gauge of a student’s true ability. The private school association is also looking into the matter now.

Opinion: I feel that this situation is not only found in the New York City, but also in most major countries including Singapore. Parents are afraid that their children might lose out to their peers, and are therefore sending them to lots of classes and courses. This however may not be the best solution since students may become over dependent, and in the future they might not be able to handle the fact that they no longer have help, affecting their results.