Are Grades Fair?

Grades are not a fair measure of one’s capabilities.

Through a person’s entire school life he hears of how important and significant his grades are in his life. Every teacher he has harp’s about the scholastic achievement he should reach.

Then at home he hears the same thing all over again. Whenever a good grade appears on a report card the parents immediately reward the child through monetary means. Larger rewards are given if a certain number of good grades are achieved—thus encouraging the child to work harder the next semester.

Of course, in case the youngster drops down in his grades the parents feel that it is their right and duty to make it clear that such a performance should not be repeated. Sometimes the parents, Impose such penalties as withdrawal of allowance or restriction for a set period of time.

In the lower levels of education this may be all well and good, but once a person gets into the college or university level, it is no longer reasonable that his intelligence should be gauged by such an antiquated method that has never been renovated.

Progress has always been the goal of every generation, but not all progress has been achieved by scholastic accomplishments. Just a few examples of this fact are some of our great leaders, inventors, and writers.

Thomas Edison invented the electric light, Robert Pulton invented the steamboat, Abraham Lincoln was a remarkable President with many accomplishments, and Sam Houston was an outstanding historical figure. Yet these very men never got the opportunity to complete their formal education.

This is not to say that formal education should be officially banned, but grades should be since they are not a truly accurate measurement of one’s mental abilities. One possibility would be for the professors to give either a straight “passing” or “failing” grade that would tell whether a person would be successful in a certain subject or not.

In a modern society such as ours we should be able to come up with a better and more interpretive method of judging a man’s capabilities.