Comments on: Can high school grades be trusted?

By: Kaye

Kaye — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 22:49:43 +0000

This is pretty shocking to me, and I think the government should crack down and it should be clear where students take their courses. At least at UBC you have to write the LPI if your English mark is a B or lower – which provides some standardisation (and do provincial exams!).

It’s normal to have some variation (we had easier teachers too – but the variation was 10% or less, not 40%). But this is fraud.

By: Cherbear

Cherbear — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 16:13:27 +0000

This is amazing but I’m not surprised. I went to one of the harder public highschools in my city. Other public schools were so easy. If I got a 70 or 80 in a class people at other schools would get marks in the 80′s or 90′s. So annoying.

I wish I’d known about this back in the day. But I got into Waterloo and graduated so I’m happy.

An overhaul of the public school system is overdue. It’s reaching the point where a Canadian version of the SAT’s or standardized entrance test will be required to enter university.

At the same time if a student knows they can get a higher grade I say go for it. (Keep in mind some people will flunk their first year at university because they credit shopped and can’t keep up. Seen it happen time and time again.)

Good luck kiddies.

By: UBC Insiders | The Quest for Admissions Fairness

UBC Insiders | The Quest for Admissions Fairness — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 06:30:09 +0000

[...] you have not yet read the Macleans article detailing pay-for-credit high schools in BC, please take some time to do so. This was referenced a [...]

By: Ivan

Ivan — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 13:48:01 +0000

Another aspect regrading attitudes towards credits mills, is that we have told students for many years that they are the greatest (the “child centreded approach in elelmentary), so consequently they believe that they are entitled to everything – usually with as little effort as possible. It is no surprise then that students go out and use credit mills. The arrogance of many of this younger generation is incredible. It appears as they do not have to work for anything. Perhaps that is an article for another day.

By: The Quest for Admissions Fairness : UBC Insiders

The Quest for Admissions Fairness : UBC Insiders — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:04:19 +0000

[...] you have not yet read the Macleans article detailing pay-for-credit high schools in BC, please take some time to do so. This was referenced a [...]

By: daviddvdd

daviddvdd — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:47:14 +0000

My brother is looking for a private school to transfer, the first consideration was Century High school though a friend recommend until i read about the article. my brother wants to go to UBC after graduation, my question is if century high school student’s grade is eligible to be accept by UBC. or any other suggested high school to go to? My brother’s english is not good, that’s why he looking for a private school to transfer, otherwise he will be force into a adult high school since public high school does not allow students stay after grade 12 even though students did not pass the english exam.

By: Eli

Eli — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:02:24 +0000

In Germany a new wave of student protests is going on right now: In more than 20 universities lecture halls are and will at least be occupied until Friday. They have the full support of lecturers,profs and the public.
Germany spends less money on education than most other OECD countries (only Spain, Slowakia, Turkey and Ireland invest less in their schools and universities). Other reasons for the protests are the new Bachelor/Master system, tuition fees, psychological pressure, …..
link to a map with all the universities participating in the protests:
http://maps.google.at/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=de&msa=0&msid=116283369278129786033.0004778dfa81fb402d565&ll=49.21042,8.876953&spn=23.014452,46.582031&z=4&source=embed

By: DBellaa

DBellaa — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:59:10 +0000

Hassran — No one is tarring all schools with the same brush. Re-read the following paragraph: “Of course, most private schools are reputable. Yet some operations—often referred to as “credit mills” or “credit shops”—are using students desperate to get into university (along with their parents) as cash cows. As long as a student slaps down hundreds of dollars per credit—in some cases as much as $1,500—these schools are happy to oblige with marks in the 80s and 90s, whether the student earns them or not.”

By: Hassan Mirzai

Hassan Mirzai — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:54:44 +0000

Tarring all private schools with the same brush is arbitrary and patently unfair.
I have no doubt that there are improper practices by some private schools. However, the ministry of Education holds the responsibility and has the authority to address this problem by identifying them and revoking their licenses. It is four years since the ministry closed four private schools. Since then, the number of private schools has grown like mushrooms, yet the ministry has not closed any other school during this period.
It is not fair to download the consequences of such practices onto the whole population of private schools.

I suggest that Ministry of Education considers the followings to combat this issue:
• sending their inspectors out more often (currently every two years)
• Sending out their inspectors randomly, without pre announcement (currently they give about three months advance notice)
• Regulating the teaching practices
• Checking teacher qualifications and their relevant experiences

Here is the link to the original Ministry Letter and FutureSkills High School response: http://www.futureskills.com/article/

By: Neliya

Neliya — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:35:24 +0000

Taking up language courses in their own community schools and receiving 98& averages is not fair when compared to students who do a honest job at school.

Universities wake up!

Standadized testing to get into universities is ‘THE BEST’ ‘THE HONEST’ and “THE CORRECT & FAIR ” thing to do