SMU Dean of Students and Professor of Sociology Paulin Tay Straughan commented that replacing streaming with subject-based banding serves to remind the public that schools are not just about teaching academic content, they are also about nurturing our students to be inclusive, responsible and having the necessary skills-set. She pointed out that labelling is a concept passed on by adults to children, when a child is viewed as ‘not smart’, he may look upon himself as such. “When a child loses hopes from young, when the result of one national exam creates self-doubt, it will be difficult for him to be a new person when he grows up, which would be tragic.”
