Most of us have come through an education system at school, or college, where exams are feared. We worked long hours, sometimes through the night, to prepare. We entered the imposing hall, opened the question paper, and then, in a race against time, we tried to get through all the questions. At the end of the time, someone said ‘Stop!’, We handed in our paper and went out to celebrate what was hopefully be the end of that grade or even that chapter of our lives. Oh, and I almost forgot: Sometime later (maybe weeks, sometimes months), the results were published. Some hopes were met, others were dashed.

There are several features about this ritual that I’d like us to note. First, is the hype that accompanies it: It’s a big deal! So much hinges on an hour or two of frantic scribbling. Second, it’s a gate the keeps some out and lets others in. Everyone does not succeed. Some will pass, others will fail, with ongoing negative consequences for their lives. Third, even those who pass, who are ‘let in’ are segregated into different categories for reward purposes. A few receive special honours, possibly recognised by a badge, a ribbon or a hat, while others are awarded lesser symbols of status – maybe just a pass certificate.

Go back two thousand years, and ancient Roman society was carefully stratified into different levels of achievement. The way they wore theirr clothes showed how important they were. Those at the very top even got to ride in fancy chariots. Imagine! Why do we still do it this way? And what keeps us doing it like this?

Traditions are sometimes difficult to break. The traditional system made sure that only a few people did well – one couldn’t have too many people riding in chariots – who would be left to admire them?! But this has never been much fun for the majority who just passed, or for the few who failed altogether.

What if everybody could do well? Do we really need a system that favours just the few who find exams easy, who understand what it is that they have to do, who are familiar with the language, or who think and write quickly? Why should there be only one way of learning?

At SkillWise, we believe there is another way. We started asking a different set of questions: What if assessments were used as tools for growth and learning, instead of markers for building a status pyramid? What if students were allowed to set their own goals and to keep trying until they reached or exceeded them? What if they were given all the time they needed to reach the high standard that they had set for themselves? What if we celebrated perseverance and achievement, rather than natural advantages? We arrived at some staggering conclusions: Guess what? If society were to take this very different approach to learning and the markers of success, the whole structure of winners and losers would be turned on its head! As a brilliant by-product, people could take control of their own futures and stand tall alongside their fellow citizens, for all could be capable and competent, even if they had arrived there by different routes.

We are describing here what is known as ‘mastery learning’ – a completely different approach to learning and testing that enables everyone to succeed. The SkillWise training utilises the mastery approach to learning. This is why it is quite unlike all the other digital training programs out there in the market place. In the SkillWise training, there is no such thing as failure; failure is just the way we learn, and everyone can succeed.

There is no shame, no stigma in failing. This is why we, at SkillWise, find it so exciting to watch our students growing and struggling, and then, again and again, emerging like brilliant butterflies out of the process! It’s no mystery, but it is all due to the careful design and development of our technology-for-learning, employing principles and practices that we have been developing over the last 25 years. With mastery learning, everyone is a winner! Everyone can succeed!