Band 6+: Some people believe that children at secondary school should be streamed, i.e. taught in classes according to ability, rather than being taught in mixed-ability classes. Do you think the advantages of streaming children at secondary school outweigh the disadvantages?

Nowadays, some people think that pupils in secondary school should be streamed and taught by curriculum that suit to their abilities, instead of being taught in mixed-ability classes. The upsides of this can include faster progression and high achievers, but these advantages are outweighed by cons such as fixed mindset and a lack of comprehensiveness.

One major advantage of streaming education is faster progression. All people have their strengths and their weaknesses, and students also. Children studying in classes that are created according their abilities and knowledge can easily improve their strengths more quickly. This is because pupils learn subjects from special curriculum which was created by scientists; it helps them to progress faster and increase their academic abilities. In addition, students can achieve greater success by studying with special plan. Most of the students who are streamed may become more successful in one specific field because special curriculum is really useful and can improve students’ academic abilities. For instance, pupils from Singapore who are streamed achieved greater success, and they usually win worldwide competitions such as math Olympics (IMO) and science.

Despite these benefits, the disadvantages of streaming education are more significant. One potential drawback of streaming education is fixed mindset. When students mainly focus on one field such as math, science, or history, they do not give enough attention to other subjects that are also crucial for their well-being. This can make students fixed minded. Furthermore, lack of comprehensiveness can be really big problem. If people are gifted on only one field or subject, they cannot support the conversation about other necessary subjects, which make them not comprehensive. For example, if pupil is taught only 1 subject, this people cannot maintain discussion on other entertaining themes.

In conclusion, streamed education may have some positive effects on the gifted students, such as faster progression and higher achievements. However, drawbacks of streamed education are more significant, including lack of comprehensiveness and fixed mindset.