Saturday 22 February 2003
I have been teaching for a number of years and in all those years I have encountered students giving so many reasons or excuses as to why they have not handed in their assignments. It came to a point when I thought that I would only be hearing variations of the same reasons or excuses. Before this week, the most interesting was a phone call I received from one of my students a couple of days before the final examinations. She said that she would not be able to hand in her assignment on time and she would not be able to attend the final examination. I asked her why, and she said that she was calling from the hospital. She gave birth to a girl that morning. Since I remembered that that student had indeed been pregnant, I accepted her excuse and began making preparations that would allow her to take the examination at another time. This was a few years back.
This week, I chased up a student who had not handed in two of her assignments. She later turned up but she came to my office when I was in a class. She left me her assignments and a letter explaining why she was late. She said that she had been a victim of santau. I met her later she told me that she would throw up at dusk and there would be things that did not belong in her sick. I declined from asking what she meant by this. She said she had been to the doctor and the doctor said that there was nothing wrong with her. She then said that she was undergoing treatment from a bomoh.
I told her that because her assignments were late, I would have to penalize her by deducting a few marks but I would accept her assignments and mark them. She accepted that.
That incident made me wonder if such a thing could happen anywhere else. At least anywhere else outside of Asia.
I have been teaching for a number of years and in all those years I have encountered students giving so many reasons or excuses as to why they have not handed in their assignments. It came to a point when I thought that I would only be hearing variations of the same reasons or excuses. Before this week, the most interesting was a phone call I received from one of my students a couple of days before the final examinations. She said that she would not be able to hand in her assignment on time and she would not be able to attend the final examination. I asked her why, and she said that she was calling from the hospital. She gave birth to a girl that morning. Since I remembered that that student had indeed been pregnant, I accepted her excuse and began making preparations that would allow her to take the examination at another time. This was a few years back.
This week, I chased up a student who had not handed in two of her assignments. She later turned up but she came to my office when I was in a class. She left me her assignments and a letter explaining why she was late. She said that she had been a victim of santau. I met her later she told me that she would throw up at dusk and there would be things that did not belong in her sick. I declined from asking what she meant by this. She said she had been to the doctor and the doctor said that there was nothing wrong with her. She then said that she was undergoing treatment from a bomoh.
I told her that because her assignments were late, I would have to penalize her by deducting a few marks but I would accept her assignments and mark them. She accepted that.
That incident made me wonder if such a thing could happen anywhere else. At least anywhere else outside of Asia.
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