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Of Exams and the Easiest Job On the Planet

Exam week is finally around the corner for the rest of the students. Above is of the trial PMR exam for Form 3 (15 years old) which was held last week. I didn't teach these students but I took some pictures anyway for the school records (and mine too).

I rarely revise for any exams when I was a student. Yes, I was sloppy and lazy. You can say I might not even care if I passed or not. But for some fantastic luck, I didn't do that badly after all.

I teach Science to Form 2 students and Physics for Form 4 and 5. I just love teaching Science because I know I am bloody good at it. But teaching Physics to students with average intelligence is an uphill battle. I cannot be hard on them or they'll lose interest. Too much play and nothing gets into those thick skulls.

Before this, I wrote an entry about being a teacher is not the easiest job. But hey, during exam weeks, it should be. No extra classes, no co-curriculum activities and of course, no teaching. We just sit and monitor the students taking the exam. But usually I take up a good book and read the while away while some students cheat and copy right under my nose.

Well, at least they made an effort not to fail, right? The purpose justify the method, no matter how crooked. But I hope they'll learn soon enough that in REAL exams, harsh and deliberate actions will be taken if they are caught.

I warned them. Thrice.

p.s. - for your info, I DID copy during my SPM exam in 1995 and was never caught. It was during Physics... Now I am doomed to teach the subject for all eternity. Ironic.

8 comments:

Aizan Suhaira said...

I cheated once in Form 4. It was the history paper and it was only the monthly test. Apparently I'm not much of a cheater because even with a book under the desk I only managed to get 75%.

But a friend who studied for the test got a far lower mark than me. The look on her face when she got to know my test score and hers.... Sigh... this evil bugger felt a tinge of guilt. And therefore I never cheated again since.

Unknown said...

Aizan; You felt guilty? Well I have some students who confided in me, feeling very discontent when other fellow friends cheat in exams.

I told them; Life is unfair. You do whatever you must do to succeed. But be prepared to pay the price when you get caught.

Some wisdom eh?

CiCi said...

Oh yeah, friend, Karma, huh.
If you teach physics you have lots on the ball so to speak. It's a good thing that you remember your experiences when you were the student, so you can relate to the young people you teach today. This looks like large classes, is this one class in the photo, or all classes of one age group?

Unknown said...

TechnoBabe; These students are of six classes of one age group crammed into one exam hall. They are going to sit a mighty important exam in less than two months.

I am not going to wish them luck. I never teach them anyway. :)

Casey Freeland said...

This is an amazing picture. Culturally I'd love to see more pictures like this, showing your world.

So, what's the Form thing? Levels of teaching and curriculum or something?

SLC

Unknown said...

SLC; This picture was taken using my mobile phone, thus the low quality.

Preschool 6-7 yrs old.
Year 1 to 6 , 7 to 12 yrs old.
Form 1 to 5, 13 to 17 yrs old.
Form 6 lower and upper, 18 - 19 yrls old.

Basicly, age groups. Malaysian schooling system makes it automatic to continue next Year / Form even though students failed in the previous year. Now many are realizing the error in it.

Tenchi said...

I never cheated before in my exam...

Unknown said...

Tenchi; You are a good boy. :)

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