Passing grades for failing skills
Posted June 18, 2012 12:44 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) -The Vancouver School Board is concerned some students may be buying their marks. Students are flunking English courses but still getting into university, so the VSB has a message for parents.
“A lot of students are going through the system, doing a few weeks or a few months of coursework in their English 10, 11 or 12, and then dropping it,” explains the Vancouver School Board’s Kurt Heinrich. “Then they are appearing after the next year with the credentials but not necessarily the skill set.”
While Heinrich won’t dish out specific blame, he says there are concerns it may be happening at some independent schools. Those at the Ministry of Education are curious to find out which schools these might be, in order to correct the problem.
Others say students could be going to private colleges to get English equivalency marks which may be less than accurate.
Regardless, Heinrich insists it is happening. “We’ve talked to UBC staff and I think there’s a real frustration on their part.”
He claims it helps students get into post-secondary schools where they tend to fail without the English skills required. “It’s short-term gain, for long-term pain.”
“[Vancouver School Board] really prides itself in terms of really preparing students and if you’re not getting that, it’s going to be really difficult for you to function at UBC where there are no shortcuts.”
Heinrich thinks the key is to reach out to new Canadians and let them know how much value there is in getting kids to weather the difficult English coursework and get the real mark. It’s not enough to have paid for piece of paper and not the skills.
