Sub-par grades distress teachers
Published:Wednesday | August 24, 2011 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
The column by Michelle Garvey Clarke titled 'Rescue upgraded high schools' and published on Sunday, August 21 was spot on. I lecture at a local university, and not a week ago felt compelled to write to my department head about this very issue.
We see the successes of the high-school system, and it's not pretty. A very high percentage of our students seem to have real problems with comprehension. It's difficult to accept, but that conclusion can scarcely be avoided in the face of the evidence.
My contention is that many students are unable to read a question, interpret it correctly, and frame an answer. It is also the fact that we can generally identify those students who attended traditional high schools from their generally higher level of reasoning and comprehension.
Trying to get many students to simply read a question and identify what the question is asking for is a frustrating exercise. You might be tempted to believe that this reluctance is linked to an unwillingness to commit oneself in the open classroom. But you would be wrong.
The recently concluded exams have again exposed this weakness, with a majority of students getting shockingly low marks for material covered in class. Sometimes the identical question reappears in the exam, and is just as poorly handled.
My subject area requires computation, but colleagues who have to mark essays tell me they get depressed every time they have to mark exam scripts. The spelling, grammar and expression are desperately poor in a large proportion of students.
The very distressing thing is that we are dealing with the system's 'successes'. What of its failures?
MICHAEL R. NICHOLSON