When awarding grades, there must be a vivid, transparent and fair set of criteria for marking the work of each and every school student. An immense amount of time, research and effort has gone into making the process of marking smooth and immaculate. Notions such as ‘objectives’, ‘learning outcomes’ and ‘success criteria’ are the results of all the hard work that has been done to ensure that not just the teachers but also the students have a fair idea about what they must do in order to obtain good grades.

Says Saima K. Raheel, a lecturer at Iqra University, “Some universities use the number of students enrolling for a particular course as an indicator of the quality of teaching there. It has been seen at times that lecturers distribute grades like candies in order to make a name for themselves. I personally know someone who did this but once his job was secure, his approach changed, thankfully.”

Hina German, a linguist and teacher, examines the topic from various angles. “A university professor teaches, sets the paper and marks the students’ work. Occasionally, personal bias mars the marking procedure. Moreover, since it could be highly beneficial to stay on good terms with the university students, the teachers sometimes mark them leniently to gain their favour. Similarly, there are teachers who hand out grades just like that simply to hide their incompetence — good grades for everyone; no questions asked; everyone is a winner. Ironically, what I have noticed is that such ‘competent’ teachers are usually seen on the panel of the quality enhancement cells of quite a few private universities,” she says.

Hussain Khan, a trainer at a private institute, brings forth a unique observation. “Sometimes teachers are helpless, too. You see, it is a matter of perception. Certain courses are perceived to be ‘A’ grade courses, and since they are labelled as such it automatically puts an immense amount of pressure on the teachers as they might be questioned about their judgment later on by not just the students but also the administration,” he says.

Setting aside the analyses on the private sector there is a whole new facet of the problem that needs to be addressed when we take the public sector into account. Shehla Zuberi, a post-graduate from Karachi University and an educationist herself, shares her thoughts, “There is no entity in our system that could protect the rights of the teachers. In the universities that are run by the government, many students have some sort of political affiliation which they constantly use to their advantage by making the teachers succumb to their will. Thus, they are given good grades.”

It seems as if this particular issue is present everywhere. Laura Adams, a Political Science student in the US, renders her version, “The quality of students has gone down drastically in the past few years. Most college students are not at the appropriate level. Consequently to keep their jobs, the teachers go easy on them or else they might lose their jobs as many would flunk. This ultimately results in more under-qualified people in society.”

So for the time being, the grading system prevails all across the globe, and as notorious as it may be for crushing an individual’s confidence and academic progress, it needs to be implemented as objectively as possible as long as it is there.

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