Students already have enough to worry about when it comes to education. Now, the School Board has decided to dump a fee on top of all the burden it has already placed on students, due to the nationwide economic crisis. The budget cuts are understandable and necessary, but this fee has directly impacted the students greatly.
It seems appalling to this year’s students who need to face this change because until last year, the FCPS had paid for the students. Schools typically do not pay the students’ exam fees, but this sudden policy change would confuse the students. This is an anticipated result after FCPS announced many possible resolutions to fee changes last year, but the students and parents were definitely not ready to pay for the enormous exam fees.
In the new policy, however, the FCPS has announced to waive exam fees for students receiving reduced-price meal benefit, but it will still definitely cause a decline in the participation of the IB Programme.
The students whose family income is just above the limit are also likely to face challenges in paying for the fee. In a household size of four, the maximum household income for free meals qualification is $28,665. Will there be an evident difference in standards of living between families who make $28,665.01 and $28,665? No, but under the FCPS policy, a cent determines whether the student will pay for exam fees or not.
The FCPS’s new exam-fee policy had critical impacts especially on International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma students, who would need to take at least seven exams which cost $75 each for both Standard and Higher Levels (SL/HL).
Although IB’s rigorous and astounding reputation are recognized by some universities, some of its policies are hideous. Yes, it is a student’s choice to become an IB Diploma Candidate, but it is also the IB coordinators who encourage them to take such an economically and academically challenging track.
In the long run, IB tracks could be beneficial and the exams fees might be worth paying since the students could receive college credits if they pass the exams with a score of six or above.
However, most universities’ policy applies this benefit to only HL-exams. Therefore, the $75 that SL-exam takers had to spend becomes nearly pointless. It may provide students with self-pride – but nothing more than that.
On the other hand, the AP exams are not part of the requirement in completing the course. The College Board is thoughtful about the AP exam fee that students have to pay.
The IB coordinators and directors should perhaps consider the range of assistance they can offer to students before encouraging them to take IB classes or follow the diploma path.
The 32 IB Diploma candidates at AHS may take pride in and appreciate their workload and achievements, but the IB policies certainly do not deserve this acknowledgment.
If the IB’s goal is not to make profit by educating students, it ought to reform its exam-mandatory policy, at least for the SL exams. Soon, non-IB Diploma candidate students will put less emphasis on SL exams because a score of “seven” will get them nothing but personal pride.
The FCPS’s exam fee-policy change shocked many students and will continue to cause hesitation on whether they should take IB courses or not. It is unfortunate, but will be interesting to see the number of IB students decrease in Fairfax County. Overall, IB is responsible for this result because of its exam-mandatory policy.
