Condom question in PT3 trial exam paper upsets netizens
Many on social media question the syllabus of the ‘Science’ subject in secondary schools.
The photo of the exam paper with the question and the ensuing answer given by a student was first posted by Facebook user June Low on Monday. It has since been shared from her wall alone more than 220 times.
The main complaint from her friends on FB, as well as on the FB pages of those who shared the post, was that the student had written a factually correct answer for a question, yet was marked wrong for the answer given.
Low wrote on her FB post that the photo of the exam paper (see pic below) was sent to her by a “concerned adult” who was shown the paper by the student concerned.
“I shared it because I genuinely want to know why the student was marked wrong for that answer,” Low said when contacted by FMT today.
She added that the question was from the Science subject paper in a PT3 trial exam, which was said to have taken place recently at a school in the Klang Valley.
To the question “The selling of condoms openly in shops has a negative impact which will create a social problem in society. Do you agree? Give your explanation.”, the student had answered: “No because condoms are a step for birth control which is needed to prevent pregnancy.”
However, the teacher had marked the student’s answer as wrong.
“I want to know what the ‘correct’ answer is to a question like that.
“I don’t even see the point of asking this question. With the increase in the number of teen pregnancies and baby dumping cases we have in the country, what we need is comprehensive sex education and free access to contraception.
“So, this question in fact raises many others. I think many people also want to know what’s up,” Low said.
Many Malaysians had also commented on Facebook and other social media, questioning the syllabus of the “Science” subject in secondary schools.
– “Why such silly question in a science test paper? It should be asked in a moral test, not science la. Really confused”.
– “This is a clear case of institutionalized imposition of a certain moral viewpoint. And what kind of question is this in a SCIENCE paper?”
– “More needs to be done to address the blatant disregard that certain ‘teachers’ have for critical and well-reasoned thinking as they show favour for biased, personal opinions backed by what appears to NOT be actual science.”
– “Many of the teachers, teaching in sekolah kebangsaan need to be re-educated, so as not to bring their religious ideologies when teaching science.”
Another bone of contention was the teacher having marked the answer wrong when it was a subjective question that was clearly opinion-based, hence, there could be no wrong answer.
An FB user said: “The paper clearly asked for an opinion and an explanation to back that opinion. Therefore, as long as you provide an opinion and an explanation, you should get the full marks.”.
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