RE: First meeting with "the officials"
Wow thank you for this elaborate reply!
Yes I think you are right about the tests as a "show off" of the authority of the government and the "improvement" thereafter made by the institutions.
I think one of my biggest issues with tests are the way "good" is measured by the same standard for every being - moving us towards a mono cultured people, not valuing different skills and ways to be. Like that quote about judging a fish by it's ability to fly. That someone below standard in that exact measurement is seen as less valuable, less good, even though they would never use those words, the feeling will be there.
So the goal for being good becomes a certain way of being, thinking and knowing, making us all the same kind of people, but separating us by how good we are to be exactly that way.
I have literally paraphrased what you just said at the last parents evening, as they were praising at the start and then said "she needs to bring her other subjects up to the same level". What a crock! And they looked at me as if I was an alien to think such things. Schools are just indoctrination camps, but a retired teacher told me that kids are very resilient and still come through as individuals. Suppose that can't be said for everyone though. It will be a good day when some form of president is set with home-schooling and people will know where they stand. In cases like yours and many others it seems like it is kept in the back of your minds.