Mangaluru: Usually a brief casual conversation with SSLC evaluators unfolds funny sides of correction as teachers receive papers seeking clearance in the exams and few with irrelevant comic answers. However in the era of social media fad, going a step ahead, such answer papers were seen circulated on WhatsApp groups and Facebook walls.
This time around, a sorry state of a student that was lamented on the answer script has gone viral casting shades on the plight of a government school that did not have a mathematics teacher. The paper which seems to be posted by an unknown evaluator also depicts the condition of a student circumstantially pushed to dismayed state due to education system prevailing with few government schools.
This page of answer paper of an unknown student doing rounds in many groups has been procured by the Newskarnataka.com. For a question in a mathematics examination- “The sum of three consecutive terms in an arithmetic progression is six and their product is 120. Find the three numbers or the product of three consecutive terms in a geometric progression is 216 and a sum of their products in pairs is 156. Find the three terms, a student conveyed his tough time he underwent and requested the evaluator to give pass marks.
To put it in detail, the answer read (Kannada-translated for readers in English), “Teacher, we were pursuing studies in government high school, we did not have a mathematics teacher to teach us. This forced me to leave the school and join an English medium high school. Since I am poor in English I was not able to understand sums in the alien language. Though I urged teacher to teach in Kannada, the teacher declined saying this is an English medium school and not Kannada. I do not have father, kindly pass me in the exam. In my further studies I have to do well in order to look after my family.”
It could be observed that his blatant inappropriate answer has thrown light on potholes on the roads of education system. Going by his answer, had he got access to quality education in government school, he would not have uttered this nonsensical behavior on the answer paper.
To check the authenticity of the answer paper, the Newskarnataka.com consulted one of the senior evaluators having decades of experience in evaluation. The teacher under the condition of anonymity conformed that these were the questions posed in this academic year. On the other hand teacher informed the question was asked in right way in English question paper but went illogical in Kannada question papers. The students pursued in Kannada medium bagged grace marks for the same question which this unidentified student sought pass marks.
The teacher further added “We get such answer papers every year.” Few teachers succumbing to emotion give away pass marks, while many stick to rules. When asked about plight of government schools, the teacher rued it was sad that few students were denied rightful quality education.
