Forum: IB exam different for each student, so scores a poor indicator of performance
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As someone who just finished the International Baccalaureate (IB) exam, I would like to comment on the article “ IB exam results: Singapore continues streak of surpassing global average
I feel that crucial details regarding the IB, a system that many Singaporeans may not fully understand, could have been included.
The IB is designed as a holistic examination framework aimed at giving each student an opportunity to choose what he is interested in studying at standard or higher levels.
The exam is different for each individual based on the subject combination, thus making total scores out of 45 a poor point of reference to determine how well someone has performed.
At the heart of it, this is a style of education that aims to promote students’ learning through their own creativity, curiosity and self-motivation.
By detailing statistics from local IB schools, the article may make comparisons natural and paint some schools as superior to others. Readers should be reminded to consider that each school may have different subjects that are available for students to choose from, and that subjects may vary in difficulty, especially in the IB.
Promoting comparisons in this way may also affect some students’ morale.
It is not wrong to report facts, but presenting statistics without the proper context can be unintentionally misleading.
Let’s not make education about numbers, but about people.
Owenn Phua, 18
