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New Zealand has sunk to a new low in modern education. A number of high school students have started a petition to not be failed on a national history exam as they did not understand the meaning of the word 'trivial'. For those not in the know, trivial means "of little value or importance" which aptly describes this petition given that it is being made by grade 13 high school students who by all rights should know the meaning of this word. More than 2400 people have signed the petition 'expressing their frustration with the exam question'. Student Logan Stadnyk claimed that he was "lucky" to have known what the word meant, as half his class didn't. "New Zealand History Teachers' Association chairman Graeme Ball has sided with the students calling the exam a 'little bit of a snafu'" but not providing an adequate answer as to why students in grade 13 would not understand a common English word.
Have the three Rs lost all meaning in schools? Are we failing our students? Or is this just another case of today's teens being snowflakes?
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Sunday November 18 2018, @10:36AM (2 children)
It would very much help if someone from NZ could tell us what age in years the kids are in this Grade 13. Anyone? I don't have a clue.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 18 2018, @05:34PM (1 child)
Yes, please. ANYONE?
Gosh, if only there were some other way to find out this information other than people repeatedly begging on SN for some knowledgeable Kiwi to chime in! Thanks to that Canadian in the above post for providing random anecdotal data about his experience in Canada (which may or may not have any relationship to anything that goes on with New Zealand)! That's amazing!
I mean, imagine if there were some sort of comprehensive free readily available resource [wikipedia.org] that might have information like this, perhaps even with directions to find more reputable resources to fill in such information! Wouldn't that be something?? Or maybe even some sort of apparatus to search for said information, a sort of... engine, if you will...
But alas. I don't have a clue about this wacky New Zealand education thing either. I went to the local library and asked to see their Facts on File database, but their microfilm reader was out of order. Then I remembered that I had a friend of a friend who was an extra in the original Lord of the Rings movie. So I sent him a telegram. I'll report back when I hear from him. I'd call him, but when I contacted my phone operator (who seemed confused to actually be talking to anyone who needed assistance in dialing), I was told I'd need to upgrade my long distance plan for them to place the call over the international wires for me.
Oh well.. let's just hope we hear from someone here. That would really help! Anyone?!? Maybe someone should start looking into creating a resource that we could look up easy to find information like this... perhaps a sort of interconnected network that's around the world or somethin'...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 18 2018, @09:15PM
Anyone can edit wikipedia though, is that a reliable source?