As parents striving to raise our children in a stronger society, we are concerned with the introduction of banding in the education system.

Education will once again start to emphasise grades and academic abilities only. In mixed-ability classes, a child who may be an intellectual achiever appreciates the child next to him in the bench who is fantastic at art or music.

High achievers have much to learn from the struggling, perseverance and patience of low-achievers because they too have other areas in their life that they struggle with (perhaps social interaction or technical qualities). Inclusion has so far ingrained in our students the ability to see the person beyond the perceived limitations – diversity is celebrated and everyone’s contribution is recognised as valuable.

All this is thanks to the incredible work of many educators starting from the top downwards, who hold such values to heart. The world is not made up of academically-intelligent people only and school is meant to prepare us for the diversity in life. How are we to prepare our children to work with all kinds of persons with respect?

Teachers themselves admitted that the banding system will give rise to stigma. Surely one sees that this system will give rise to more blatant and obvious labelling than that which might also exist in mixed-ability classes. The label will be evident simply by the number of your class. Other implied discrimination will follow.

We are therefore encouraging the growth of inequality in our society. The children themselves, at such a young age, once segregated, are being shown that we have no faith in them and they will start to believe it. The repercussions are so much worse, economically and in terms of employability.

We acknowledge that some teachers are struggling to educate children according to their needs because of lack of time, space, resources and planning. However, this calls for a longer-term strategy rather than something implemented ad hoc with no planning. There is need of teaching assistants to give input to high achievers, to avoid boredom and possible disruptions in class. We also need to support those parents who struggle to help their children with their education. We need to invest time and money in an educational vision which includes love, sensitivity and creativity.

We write with deep sadness that this abrupt reversal in the educational system will mean that we have failed, not only in the educational sector but in our development as a truly inclusive society.