AN Singh: Robbed of an award
"To mark a student’s exam or test haphazardly for any reason is wrong."
Teachers, please don’t rob students of their marks or awards.
With schools finally opening, every student (especially the matriculants) will be patiently waiting for their reports soon after they write, and their parents and guardians will be in the same boat as them. Consumed with worry and anxiety – overthinking about what the outcome could be.
We’ve all been there, so we can relate. The thought of failing or not getting the marks you wanted can become overwhelming, but what is more stressful is when students are robbed of their marks. It’s not just the matriculants that might face this injustice, but the younger learners as well.
No school or teacher can be pointed out without doing a proper investigation, but if you choose to brush this topic under the carpet or think it’s a matter that’s ‘too sensitive’ or false, then this is a bigger problem than we thought.
It doesn’t take science to assume why certain teachers would do this. Perhaps money is one of the reasons why underprivileged children will be treated differently because he/she does not have wealthy parents whom the teacher can have a friendship with. Or maybe there’s favouritism involved. This is a big one – choosing to treat certain learners better and ignoring others.
Another reason could be (and this might be the worst one) unethical behaviour from the teachers. Not every learner is the same. Some are weaker or slower in their learning, while others are quieter and don’t communicate that much. This is no reason to treat a student differently, bully them (in any way), or not mark their work appropriately.
To mark a student’s exam or test haphazardly for any reason is wrong! And to rob a student of their marks is a crime! Especially if this is done to the younger learners. Everything that a teacher does or says to a child affects them psychologically. You don’t need to do research to guess this, it’s common sense.
If a student really didn’t deserve that mark, then explain to them why this is the case, but if marks or awards are being held back because of the teacher’s own personal issues with the learner, then this needs to stop!
It is not just the students who suffer, but their parents as well. Their hard-earned money paid towards school fees and their time and effort in helping their children to pass will go up in smoke – burning away to ash because this injustice continues, questioning why this has happened. Please don’t rob a learner of their marks or awards; it’s unethical.
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