Coronavirus: The only tests we should worry about now, are not the A-levels or GCSEs
School closures in the UK, during a time when students are preparing for crucial exams that will determine their future, have been greeted with an understandable outcry. But let’s put things under perspective here. This unprecedented crisis is not about us as individuals. There are tests with a far higher priority at the moment.
It is not that I don’t care about the disappointed students who have been working so hard in preparation for their exams. I do. I have a son who has been spending every second of his day preparing for his A-Levels and another just ready for his SATs.
This morning, when dropping my younger child at school, I couldn’t shake the sadness from thinking that this will, very likely, be their last day at Primary School. They will miss the send-off rituals. Year 6’s last school play, before starting High School, won’t be happening this year. Teachers are doing their best to keep their spirits up. The children were told to come in whatever clothes that make them feel happy. Some parents brought cakes and balloons to help with making up for the rituals they will be missing. On walking back, I heard small ones singing in enthusiastic choirs. This is not denial. It is building up of all the courage we will need.
If you are a GCSE or A-Level candidate complaining about the decision of scrapping up the exams, just think about how privileged you already are for still be considered a child. Not all 16–18 years old are so lucky. They can’t afford to share the same concern as you. Some are already serving the Army. If the Coronavirus situation in the UK gets as bad as in Italy, they will be ones moving the bodies of the diseased from the morgues. They will be the ones burying some of the people you love. Can you imagine doing that?
There are 16 years old who can’t afford to focus on their exams. Those are already working to support themselves or their families. Some are the primary carers of their own parents or siblings. You see them every day in shops and restaurants. They learn resilience on the spot, every time they face a rude customer who talks down at them, just for the tiny little weeny pleasure of feeling superior for a moment.
Meanwhile, there are more than 85,000 young people between the ages of 16–25, who are homeless in the United Kingdom. They live in conditions that exposes them to an uncountable series of other illnesses and dangers.
What I am trying to say is: Just cut the drama. Use the opportunity to become a better person, instead of some entitled middle-class individual with delusions of being special. I know I am being harsh and you might not deserve this. It is easy to be caught at the moment. But I am just repeating the same words I told my A-level son.
Your time will be better utilised by continuing to study remotely as planned, as well as campaigning for Covid-19 tests to be available to everyone, as soon as possible. That will be the real deal-breaker that will enable life to go back to its best normal, or whatever the new normal might be. Once everyone can be tested, we will be better equipped to understand the spread patterns in the UK and find better ways to get through this.
