If you were tested at a level three years beyond your skill set, would you have passed?

It is a the frightening and unfair reality facing year 9 students as it has been revealed that the NAPLAN testing in this year of schooling could determine their futures.

Year 9 students must get a band eight in three crucial areas to obtain their Higher School Certificate.

If they aren’t successful, they resit the test in years 10, 11 and 12 until they do.

And if they still aren’t successful, they don’t get their HSC. 

They still get an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) but no paper to say they completed the HSC.

Thanks for coming, but you’ve wasted your time.

What a joke.

Aren’t teenagers already under enough pressure to achieve and excel without placing this added stress on them?

Imagine years of studying, exams and assessments, all completed and passed, to finish and be told you still won’t get your HSC.

All because of a test from year 9 that was well above your knowledge level anyway.

It’s everything the government promised the NAPLAN wouldn’t be.

Kids already compare themselves to their friends on menial things, such as who has the better pair of sneakers.

Imagine how out-of-hand it will get when they start comparing eligibility to complete their HSC.

There are going to be even more angsty teenagers running around and it’s not what they, or the rest of the world, needs.

Of course, students at that age should be concerned about their education and their futures but not about whether the test they just took determines what happens three years down the track.

Give them some breathing room and allow them to worry about that at the appropriate time.

For years, we have told children not to stress excessively about the HSC until year 12 comes around.

Former education minister Adrian Piccoli basically said students have to work harder for better results so NSW matches up to the other states.

Does it matter where the state stands if it’s at the expense of our children?