External pressure can work in the short term, but it disincentivises taking risk (which is where life-long learning happens), it steps on internal motivation (w

External pressure can work in the short term, but it disincentivises taking risk (which is where life-long learning happens), it steps on internal motivation (which is where life-long learning happens), and once the external pressure is removed, the interest in learning drops to further below where it was before the pressure was introduced. So yes, it works in the short term, but I believe it's a net negative overall. Grades are great, but not for the pressure they apply on students -- they are a measure of how successful the teacher has been in reaching their students!