How Far in the Name of Competitiveness Can We Go?

When school rankings stop motivating and start suffocating

Competition is supposed to be healthy. At least, that is what we are told. A little push, a little challenge, a little bit of rivalry to make us strive for better. But at some point, it stops being a push and starts being a weight pressing down until it is hard to even breathe. And honestly, I think my school has found the line and gleefully leapt across it.

Because you know what is apparently motivating now? Ranking us publicly after every formative assessment. Not just summative exams, not even big finals, but every little FA. Every test, every project, every minor grade gets converted into a number and broadcast like we are stocks on the market. Up today, down tomorrow, better luck next quarter. It is not even a consistent ranking either. Sometimes the teacher will pull random names and announce who has gone “down.” Sometimes they announce who has “risen.” Sometimes it is like a lottery, except instead of winning cash you win anxiety and a sudden drop in self esteem.

And the logic, apparently, is that this will motivate us to work harder. As if being constantly measured against your friends, your classmates, even people you barely know, is going to make you reach your “potential” instead of spiral into feeling like you are always behind. As if being told you have “fallen” is supposed to lift you up instead of confirming every fear you already had. It is not healthy competition, it is public humiliation disguised as character building.

The irony is, most of us are already competitive. We already want to do well, we already stress over grades, we already compare ourselves even without the teacher fanning the flames. School does not need to add fuel to that fire, because the fire is already burning. What they are doing is pouring gasoline and then acting surprised when people feel burnt out or crushed.

So the question really is, how far in the name of competitiveness can we go? When does “motivation” become cruelty? When does pushing students cross the line into pulling them down? Because if education is supposed to be about learning, about growing, about discovering what we are capable of, then this constant obsession with ranking is doing the opposite. It is making learning feel like a race where no one ever wins, because the finish line keeps moving.

And maybe schools should stop pretending this is about preparing us for the “real world.” Because in the real world, success does not come from humiliating someone else into trying harder. It comes from collaboration, from resilience, from knowing your worth even when it is not written in a leaderboard.

But hey, maybe that is just me. Or maybe, deep down, we all know that the moment competition stops being about striving and starts being about survival, we have gone too far.