Not up to grade

Re: “Caught in a ‘primordial’ English trap”, and “Jobless graduates a wake-up call”, (Opinion, Nov 20).

As a teacher here in Bangkok, I see a connection with the lack of jobs for graduates and the “English trap”. The Thai school system of grading is a major factor along with the pressure put on teachers to “pass” students even though they should be failed.

When you have a metric where a grade of 80-100% is considered an “A” and conversely 50-59% is considered a “D” and seen as a passing grade, there is going to be a major issue concerning competency at the end of the education process.

An “A” should represent superior effort, not average performance, and any score below a 70% should indicate that more effort and attention is required for the student.

Even when a student scores below the failing mark, teachers are pressured to give “extra credit” which allows the student to pass. This means the bureaucratic efforts of education look good on paper. The needs of the system appear to outweigh the needs of the student.

Couple a grading system that does not promote excellence with a pedagogy based on rote learning and memorisation and you have a recipe for intellectual disaster. If the object of schooling is for a student to actually learn, then the benchmarks for grading should be on a “pass/fail” system. This means the student works on the concept until they truly understand it — no matter how long it takes.

It is better to move forward slowly and be sure of your knowledge then to move forward quickly with ignorance. Also, this system allows for the smarter students to advance quicker and not be bored. It’s a win/win for all levels of students! And for teachers, it allows them to exercise learner-centred methodology.

DARIUS HOBER