Why expect students to score As in all subjects?

“This is crazy”, I mumbled. I was looking at my cousin’s Chemistry and Physics exam papers. I am familiar with the subjects, of course, having just finished my SPM nearly six years ago. But ever since then, most of the subjects are not directly relevant in my daily life.

Since I study the humanities and social sciences, I barely remember anything significant from the three science subjects I took. The only concept that is really applicable in my real life is inertia (you know, while you are standing in the bus or trying to push out the ketchup). The most difficult mathematical question I had to solve is how to divide the bill after a mamak outing (why isn’t there a formula or app for that?).

What got me started to think about these things was the moment when I helped my cousin with his homework recently. As I read his essay for the English test (he is currently in Form 4), I felt he did a rather good job. He understood what he was writing about, his command of the language was comprehensible (I understood what he’s trying to get at), and he was able to combine real life details and an imaginary narrative into a story. Not bad, I thought.

But the teacher who graded him decided otherwise. He was given a rather low grade, with a specific breakdown of marks and criterion. For example, there will be 10 marks for content, 10 marks for grammar, 10 marks for structure, and 10 marks for vocabulary.

This marking scheme got me thinking, “How on earth are we supposed to teach and grade students based on a rigid scheme?”

Going back to this cousin’s essay, I know from past experience that his English is just all right. Surely I cannot expect to read something of the level of Hemingway, Kerouac or Tolstoy. His essay is a significant improvement from the last time. If I were his teacher, how should I grade him? Should I grade based on the scheme? Should I give a grade at all?

He uses simple vocabulary (which I think is not something he should be punished for. Sometimes flowery language and long sentences obscure the point with unnecessary words and labyrinthine plots). He switches between past and present tense every so often, something of which even I am culpable.

But wait, it is not just me and him that uses the language differently.  If I take a piece from Hemingway or Whitman and give it to the English teacher, I doubt they will get an A. I can imagine the teachers scribbling huge red circles around the great authosrs text, because the way they use the English language is different from us. They do not follow standard format, and will most likely not get an A in SPM.

I feel that the most an English teacher (official and unofficial ones) can do for his/her students is to inculcate a love of learning, and appreciation for the language. If he/she begins to like the subject, the student will have the will to learn on his/her own and perhaps become better than the teacher. To do that, we should not punish them for every tiny error they made, but instead, praise their improvement and encourage them to love the language at every opportunity. Grammar mistakes should not be our main concern, particularly at the beginning.

This is only about the English subject. As I skimmed through the other subjects’ papers, I began to realize the magnitude of the expectations placed upon our school kids like my cousin (and myself previously). Here they are, a bunch of 15-17 years old, expected to score par excellence on all 9 or 10 subjects in SPM. If you score 8As and 1B, the society will look upon the B as if it diminishes your achievement in all other subjects.

Perhaps it can be argued that only a small percentage of the population are aiming for straight As. Yet, the argument still stands. One “F” in SPM will haunt the students for a long time. In STPM, one “F” disqualifies the students from admission to local public university.

What if the student is great at one subject and flunk the other three? Are we supposed to brand him a failure? Maybe he’s better at that one subject compared to the rest of us. It would be tragic if we want a student whose interest in Physics matches that of Albert Einstein, but shame him because he fails at Biology or English. What about someone having the talent of Picasso or Hugo? Do we judge them based on our expectation that a success can only mean that they score As in all ten subjects?

We expect all our students to be the same i.e. have the same needs, should pursue the same interests, and possess equal skills. This couldn’t be further than the truth. Many of our students are not keeping up in school. They are left so far behind that it is pointless to teach them 8, 9, or 10 subjects.

The more we expect them to do, the heavier the task seems to be, and the more easily they will give up. Maybe it is better if we cut the losses and use the school time to get to know them and teach them to be better citizens.

I follow the updates on some teachers from Teach for Malaysia (TFM). The teachers who really make an impact in their students’ lives are the ones who really know and care about their students. Once the students know someone cares about them, the more likely they will open up and care, too.

The larger role of a teacher is to touch his or her students’ life, and not just finish the syllabus and cover the exam. Honestly, I have forgotten nearly all the lessons I learned in school (I can barely recall the difference between covalent and ionic bonds, and how to do differentiation and integration). But I will never forget the faces of my teachers, the dedication and faith they had in me, and the fun time we had. That’s for another article.

My last point is about History (sejarah), my favorite subject in school. Now suppose a student was required to write an essay on the history of Independence. What if he/she writes about the role of the Left, the fear of Communism, and the global trend of dismantling colonialism? These factors do not discount the roles played by Tunku and Umno. Yet, they are important factors which are not in the marking scheme. The student who wrote a non-conforming version of history would be faulted, not because his facts were wrong, but because his answers were not in the marking scheme (skema jawapan).

The same lesson applies in other subjects as well. If, for example, the English SPM paper asks me to write an essay on the impact of climate change, and I find it to be such a dull topic and proceed to write a treatise on economic crises, I would most probably not get a good grade.

Notice then, that my grade is not a reflection of my mastery of the language. Rather, I receive a low grade because I refuse to follow instruction. In this sense, one could argue that the current system inculcates and demands a culture of obedience. We train our students to follow instructions in a systematic way, and if they don’t want to do so, we punish them with a low grade.

I couldn’t help but imagine how many students are disappointed, and are being disappointed, by this type of education system. Sure, I made it. Many of us reading this article survived the system. But this system has killed the interest, education, and future of many, many students (past and present).

So many school kids are dropping out, showing no interest in school and education, or keep on failing the subjects. Their “failures” in school is going to incapacitate them for at least the first few years. Are the students the sole factor to blame? I think it’s time to reflect on the system as a cause for dropouts. – October 31, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.