Saturday April 9, 2011

A case for grades review

TEACHERS know their students’ abilities well. We regularly predict what SPM grades they will get. This is an important duty as we often give forecast results for college applications.

Come March, many candidates find that their SPM grades are higher than their school trial examination grades. Students who couldn’t pass their Physics or Add Maths in school pass with much better grades in the actual exam. It is common knowledge among teachers that the passing mark for such tough subjects is not the respectable 40% fixed in most schools but is in fact lower.

Thus teachers are shocked when very capable and consistent students get lower grades than expected. For the last fortnight, there have been hundreds of sad Christian students, along with parents and Bible Knowledge (BK) teachers.

“What’s going on?” angry parents asked one BK teacher. “You mean to say students who scored straight A+ in their 9, 10 or 11 other subjects could not score an A or an A+ in BK?”

In fact, no student scored an A+ in the subject this year.

Since past years, there has been the perception of an unfair grading scale for this subject, but it has been particularly glaring with this year’s results.

The reason for this perception is BK classes are usually small. The students are proficient in English, the medium of the exam. They attend classes every week for two or more years. With regular tests, exams and drills, an experienced BK teacher can usually accurately predict how their students will do in the final exam. BK teachers know that SPM Bible Knowledge keeps high standards in the grading.

The paper tests two books – Luke’s Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. But really good students can match the high standards with perfect answers. This is possible for all text-based subjects. SPM Bible Knowledge (code 9221) is based on clear right and wrong answers.

I appeal for an investigation into the results of 2010 top scorers not only for Bible Knowledge but also for Chinese Literature, two subjects with only a small number of candidates.

Do the Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia (LPM) directors know what their officers or machines are doing to the students’ grades?

In this age of computers, grading needs the critical supervision of God-fearing humans. I write as a believer in the human spirit of excellence and in commendable national conscience.

Looking at the calibre and capabilities of the students involved, there was clear injustice in the 2010 Bible Knowledge grading.

YAP KUN HAN,

Petaling Jaya.

News

Saturday April 9, 2011

A case for grades review