BFM 89.9 (a radio station) airs some interesting discussion during the 'back-home' drive time. Today they discussed making English a compulsory subject in the SPM. At the moment students do not have to pass their English to pass their SPM. The compulsory subjects (as far as I know) are BM and Sejarah.
It is obvious that a move has its pro and cons like any other suggestion. But do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
The Deejay stated that
"By making English a compulsory subject (pause), more students will fail the SPM." (more or less - context wise).
So what? If English is made compulsory and people fail, is that a bad thing? So someone failed - because they deserved to. What is the big deal here?
This is the same issue as 'the bell graph problem'. There are rumours - by teachers, that the SPM is graded using a bell graph instead of a cut-off point system. Here is the 'bell graph' thingy
This is not FACT by the way, this is speculation. Not from me but from most of the teachers who have taught me during the school days. They say this graph exists, and as you can see the graph is bell shaped. Year by year, the lines will shift to the left thus making it seem as though students in Malaysia are getting 'smarter' (although I disagree 'smartness' should be measured by A's).
Year by year, the graph shifts to the left. We have not yet lived a year where the students perform worse than their seniors. Remember last year's headlines? '104000000000 pelajar dapat Semua A berbanding 10000000 tahun lepas'? Is it because that the Education System is working or is it just the people in offices somewhere in Malaysia manipulating data to make it seem as though we are all doing our jobs, that the system is working, that we are 'improving'?
Every year we worry that 'students won't pass' and that 'the 'grades will worsen'. That (however- ueberraschend lol) is not necessarily a bad thing. If there is a problem with out education system, then we must let the graph show (that there is one present). We must not conceal the truth with this colourful bell-graph of even distribution which we are said to be using.
Choose now: use the bell graph and lie to ourselves or see the facts and help Malaysia prosper.
It is obvious that a move has its pro and cons like any other suggestion. But do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
The Deejay stated that
"By making English a compulsory subject (pause), more students will fail the SPM." (more or less - context wise).
So what? If English is made compulsory and people fail, is that a bad thing? So someone failed - because they deserved to. What is the big deal here?
This is the same issue as 'the bell graph problem'. There are rumours - by teachers, that the SPM is graded using a bell graph instead of a cut-off point system. Here is the 'bell graph' thingy
Year by year, the graph shifts to the left. We have not yet lived a year where the students perform worse than their seniors. Remember last year's headlines? '104000000000 pelajar dapat Semua A berbanding 10000000 tahun lepas'? Is it because that the Education System is working or is it just the people in offices somewhere in Malaysia manipulating data to make it seem as though we are all doing our jobs, that the system is working, that we are 'improving'?
Every year we worry that 'students won't pass' and that 'the 'grades will worsen'. That (however- ueberraschend lol) is not necessarily a bad thing. If there is a problem with out education system, then we must let the graph show (that there is one present). We must not conceal the truth with this colourful bell-graph of even distribution which we are said to be using.
Choose now: use the bell graph and lie to ourselves or see the facts and help Malaysia prosper.
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