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Like the Olympics, education is not always about winning
Let’s measure – and reward – learning for the effort put in and how students challenge themselves.
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A significant part of “success” needs to be about rewarding effort across all levels of education, says the writer.
ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
Arnoud De Meyer
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With more than 10,700 participants in the 2024 Olympic Games and 4,400 in the Paralympics, about 12,500 will go home without a medal. Would that mean they have failed?
Of course not. All worked very hard to be able to participate, and gave the absolute best of themselves. As Pierre de Coubertin, the French father of the modern Olympics, said: “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.”
