In light of the Kuwaiti education experience between the four-term system and the two-semester system, I find myself inclined to believe that each system has advantages and disadvantages primarily concerning the student’s best interest. Yet, both systems have negative effects that impact the quality of education, student ethics, and true academic achievement.
In my opinion, the four-term system provides students with repeated opportunities to assess their academic performance, distributing study effort throughout the year, which can reduce the stress associated with final exams.
Through various experiences and observations, this system seems to reflect the actual level of a student's achievement, as it gives students room to make mistakes and learn from them each term. This encourages continuity in studying and discipline without excessive anxiety. However, I also understand that some students might feel that the frequent exams are overwhelming, sometimes leading them to consider shortcuts like cheating for quick success.
As for the two-semester system, I see a positive aspect in the allocation of more time for in-depth study of curricula, which can help foster a deeper understanding, especially in subjects that require depth and focus, such as mathematics and sciences. However, relying heavily on only two exams significantly increases the pressure on students, which might lead to more cheating to reduce the burden and achieve quick success. When success hinges solely on the performance in just two exams, some students may take shortcuts to ensure good results, which could weaken academic integrity.
On the other hand, the two-semester system creates an environment that contributes to what is known as "inflated grades," where leniency in grading or insufficient rigor in exam monitoring may lead to unrealistically high success rates. These grades give a false impression to parents and authorities, as they appear to reflect improvement in students' performance while, in reality, they do not align with the students' true abilities. This phenomenon, in my opinion, serves no one; rather, it ultimately erodes the community's trust in the education system as a whole.
I feel the ideal solution might be a hybrid system that combines the advantages of both systems by implementing continuous assessment through repeated intervals while reducing the number of tests counted towards final grades. This balance between continuous assessment and final achievement can help avoid inflated grades and encourage genuine effort from students without resorting to cheating. It would foster a healthy educational environment that accurately reflects students’ actual performance, benefiting everyone fairly.
I also believe that teachers and school administrations might prefer maintaining the two-semester system rather than returning to the four-term system, as it offers them greater convenience in planning and organization. In the two-semester system, the burden of assessments and preparing exams is less frequent and more organized, allowing teachers more time for deep instruction and lesson planning over an entire semester.
Moreover, this system helps reduce the administrative burdens associated with continuous grading and score entry, as evaluations are concentrated at the end of each semester. This gives administrations sufficient time for internal organization, such as subject distribution, organizing activities, and overseeing the smooth implementation of academic plans.
This preference for the two-semester system is especially convenient in light of teacher shortages or increased workload pressures in some schools. It contributes to making the academic and administrative schedules more organized and suitable for the available human resources.
Ultimately, I believe that decision-makers and education policymakers should consider the students’ best interests as the top priority when making decisions about the most appropriate education system. Choosing a system that balances academic quality and students' mental well-being enhances their ability to build a conscious and capable generation.
This goes beyond simply achieving high success rates; it involves preparing students to face future life challenges by strengthening critical thinking skills and responsibility. The best system is the one that produces the best students—students with genuine skills and high ethical standards, who are far from practices like cheating or reliance on inflated grades that mask real abilities.
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