’S-h-a-k-s-p-e-a-r’: In Bihar, this Examiner is Grading English Test Papers

Mangalore Today News Network

Saharsa, Bihar, Apr 07, 2015:  Images of parents scaling the walls of an exam centre to help students cheat drew international attention to the poor state of education in Bihar. A random check at a centre where exam papers are being checked, reveals that even some evaluators would need help to pass.

At a school in Bihar’s Saharsa district, Tamanna Ali is evaluating the English answer papers for the Class 10 exams. When asked to spell ’Shakespeare’, this is what he came up with: "S-h-a-k-s-p-e-a-r."
 
At the same school, NDTV tried a different examiner and got an almost similar response.
 
The teacher checking math papers was asked to explain the relevance of Pythagoras, the Greek Mathematician credited with the theorem taught to children in Class 9. His response was a puzzled look. Asked to spell ’Mathematics,’ he replied: "M-a-t-h-m-a-t-e-s."
 
Another teacher evaluating an answer sheet found a 100 rupee note diligently taped to it, perhaps by a student who thought the money would buy him passing marks.
 
Bihar’s education minister Prashant Kumar Shahi, addressing a news conference after the cheating scandal last month, said: "Should we shoot them?" He summed up the state’s inability to tackle a practice that has dogged Bihar’s schools for decades.
 
The government may have a bigger problem in its hands if it assesses the teachers who evaluate the exam papers and decide on the future of thousands of students.

 

Courtesy: NDTV