Before COVID, schools wouldn’t require students maintaining an average of a 95 or above in a chosen subject to take final exams. This forced students to strive for academic excellence the entire year. They studied so they could spare themselves from tedious cumulative tests that exhaust brainpower. This system effectively motivated students because they had a relieving reward to work towards. But after schools went back in session after the COVID pandemic, this system became discontinued, primarily to combat the major loss of learning during the crisis and strengthen academic standardization. Schools need to reinstate this system to incentivize teenagers to work well, reward accomplished students and alleviate mental health issues associated with schoolwork stress.
Students spend their entire year dedicating themselves to their coursework, honing in on new material and focusing on their extremely busy week-to-week schedule. Students in AP classes especially have immense pressure on them throughout the year, not only forced to do daily work and study for in-class tests, but retain all of the knowledge thoroughly so as to achieve the coveted “5” on that AP exam. Faculty mount the pressure too high when they require cumulative finals for these classes at the end of either semester. Students showcase their knowledge and excellence throughout the year; there’s no need for a final exam to repeat the curriculum they already fulfilled.
Students spend countless hours throughout the year proving their knowledge — ones that pass the strenuous year with flying colors should have their effort validated through exam exemption. These individuals dedicate about eight hours every school day to class, as well as, on average, a couple hours outside of school every day completing coursework or studying. Ones that prove how well they learned the set curriculum throughout the year should experience a reward, as well as an alleviating break from their restless nights: final exam exemption.
Finally, modern-day students face tumultuous pressure from school requirements that contribute to extreme stress and mental health issues within teenagers. Many students, especially the most successful ones, experience a need for extreme academic perfectionism. Heavy workloads contribute to debilitating anxiety, academic and mental burnout and in some cases, depression. Large, heavily-weighted cumulative exams highly contribute to these issues, causing students to go into a panic about their GPAs and final grades. In order to maintain teenagers’ sanity, schools should provide the reward to skip final exams if students work hard enough throughout the year to earn it.
In short, schools would be much better functioning academic workplaces if the pre-COVID practice of rewarding academically excellent students was reinstituted. Exempting accomplished students from final exams greatly relieves them from the taxing pressure they experienced throughout the school year. Aside from the fact that finals are unnecessary and repetitive, alleviating successful students from their throes makes for a much healthier, stronger student body, one with a higher dedication to academic accomplishment.
