By Maricel Q. Angeles, Teacher III, Peñaranda NHS

Nowadays, competitiveness is deemed natural in every individual’s character. It
always starts at home and is eventually brought outside the society. The most common
fields wherein competition is rampant are inside schools, workplaces, and areas of
competition. Merriam Webster defined competitiveness as the inclination or desire to
compete and win. This word is vastly used since there are diverse talents all over the
world, hence the competition.
Though competitiveness reflects the desire to improve oneself, we cannot deny
that it corrupts the quality of work at the same time. As mentioned above, and focusing
on schools as an example, students compete for high grades and recognition. Every
student at each level of education has an unhealthy amount of pressure that their aim to
excel starts jeopardizing their quality of acquiring knowledge.
It is a fact that students are torn and lectured by their parents and by the education
system to be better and progress in every subject, which is mentally and emotionally
challenging for them, having their scores as the basis of their position in the learning
environment. Their choice to pursue additional knowledge or develop an in-depth
understanding of their subjects in different areas is out of their hands. Instead, they are
obliged to follow a time-bound and syllabus-bound education system from the beginning
of their school learning phase.
Hence, demotivation is felt by those learners who seek deeper learning, which is
the result of the evaluation pattern. Their ranks are decided based on their scores and
results from rote learning or the memorization of information through endless repetition.
The deterioration of quality learning is most likely to happen when comparison occurs,
wherein preference is handed to those students who can handle jam-packed activities
and are capable of reproducing them while others are left struggling.
Although moving to high school and college brings out the best in students since
they imply an application-based type of education, which can be an effective way of

learning, being an examination-oriented system still implicates competition but leaves the
formation of concepts behind. Nowadays, there are easier and shorter ways of getting
academic work done and resourceful students adopted these ways. Different materials
are widely available online. These are found in the realm of the internet. Students using
the internet will later result in a more competitive environment, having no knowledge of
the topic but achieving their desired score through deceptive techniques.
As a result, concept application and comprehension are neglected. It is undoubtful
that the education system is flawed, focusing on students’ learning assessment through
examination scores instead of concept building. The negligence of students towards the
importance of quality education is somehow due to their desire to compete with high
grades. The winning side receives the recognition that most people are fond of while the
other side is losing. It is the least undesirable thing a person is afraid of losing, and he
might develop traumatic experiences from it.
It is not a secret that competition serves as the backbone for success in the modern
world, but it should always stay healthy since a competitive spirit leads to a triumphant
career. However, competitiveness frequently results in an unhealthy mindset that affects
not only the individual’s personal life but also the environment around him.