It does not matter whether a child succeeds or fails. Children learn this at a certain point. They don't tell the parents that they know the secret, and the parents certainly don't reveal it to the children. The lie is accepted among all generations.

Children can often be accepted in the "right" high schools if they meet requirements that are irrelevant of their grades. They may have the right parents who donate to the school, or siblings in that school, or they might know people in the right places.

They soon learn that policies are flexible, and that they depend on issues other than their grades. From that moment, there is no reason to do well in school.

When the children learn that they can get away with things (such as the case in which their father is the dreaded principal of the school) then they also learn that requirements are not consistent - or even real. Yes, this does have repercussions on the have-nots in the classroom, who begin to understand the concept of social strata from a young age.

In the long run, this is a very poor preparation for the real world.