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| The writer believes that a beautiful camaraderie makes life a wonderful journey. |
If
this were 1994, Year 6 pupils might have just re-sat their UPSR papers
without much thought to the reason behind the changes. But, this is 2014 and
their first introduction to ABC is not ‘Apple’, ‘Bear’ and ‘Cherry’ any more, but
‘Android’, ‘Blackberry’ and ‘Computer’. They are smart children and their minds are governed by curiosity, and this time, it doesn’t kill the cat. It kills us,
the adults.
News that UPSR candidates need to
re-sit the examination due to a leak has left more than
470,000 candidates feeling disappointed and de-motivated. Unsurprisingly,
people start to point fingers and cause chaos on social media. It is clearly
our concern to bring the perpetrators to justice but shouldn’t we also worry
about how the children perceive us now?
At home, these children are constantly reminded by their
parents about the dos and don’ts. Their teachers teach them discipline,
morality and attitude at school. They visit their grandparents just to receive
more advice about the importance of education and good values. The community
also motivates them to keep dreaming big for their future.
Sadly, the damage has been done and these innocent
children have to suffer from it. Power has been abused. The privacy and
confidentiality of the exam questions too has been broken. Children may think
that we don’t practice what we preach, and they will lose faith in us.
Your
front-page headline, "Preserve Exam Integrity" (New Sunday Times, September 14) showed a 12-year-old girl who felt victimized following the leaked UPSR
English and Science exam papers, and who thus lodged a police report. She represents
other 12-year-olds who find it hard to feign their emotion, knowing that their
future is not taken seriously by some irresponsible people. It
is upsetting that some of us fail to maintain our accountability and integrity,
and that is a point to ponder.
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| New Sunday Times, Sept 14 |
If this issue is repeated, chances are our eloquent speech on instilling positive values will not work that well
any more. By all means, we should all adhere to the
ethical principles and standards of our profession.
15 September 2014
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