In an effort to ease the pressure that its students face in China’s notoriously rigid exam-based education system, a school in one of the country’s towns, Nanjing, has created a “grade bank” that lets students “borrow” marks so that they can pass exams, and then repay them in subsequent tests. The innovative bank allows students to loan marks to make up for a failing grade in any exam. But just like regular banks, it requires “clients” to pay back the loan on time, with interest. Thus, students have to make up for the loan by scoring extra points in future exams. Some teachers also allow the students to repay the bank by conducting lab experiments or giving public speeches. Pupils who default on their loans are blacklisted by the bank, just like in real life. Mei Hong, physics teacher at Nanjing No 1 High School said that the grade bank is designed to offer pupils a second chance. “59 points and 60 points are actually not that different,” she told the Yangtze Evening Post. “But because the former means failing the exam while the latter means passing, the difference weighs heavily on students’ psyches.” So instead of failing the exam, the student can just borrow that 1 point required to pass, just as long as they agree to pay it back, with interest. “I was sick before the mid-term exams and missed several geography classes,” one pupil named Zhu said. “I failed the exam, so I am glad the “grades bank” gave me a chance to fix that.” The grade bank is a pilot system introduced in November 2016 and currently only available to the school’s 10th grade Advanced Placement class. Out of the 49 students in the class, 13 have already borrowed marks from the bank. Kan Huang, a director at the school, told reporters that they decided to introduce the grade bank as a way of placing more emphasis on students’ growth, rather than their performance in grueling exams. He further complained that the current exam-focused education system in China has created a situation where a pupil’s future could be determined by a single major exam. “Examinations should be more about improving the learning process, instead of a tool which is used to give students a hard time,” Huang told the Yangtze Evening Post. While the intriguing grade bank has been hailed as a positive change, at least on social media, not everyone approves of the system. Education expert XiongBingqi, for example, believes that the loan system is “improper” for exam marks, but admits that it takes pressure off students, who now know that they can just do better on their next test. Others think that such a system just causes pupils to be less diligent in their s

if this kain thing dey for naija

Wait wait wait. In China 60 is a pass while 59 is an F? Are you handling my balls right now? 59 wey be sharp C for here. Ooooooooh. Is that why no Nigerian goes to school in China?

This is serious, what a new development.

Lasu too should create grade bank

China here i come

PiccoloBrunelli:
Wait wait wait. In China 60 is a pass while 59 is an F? Are you handling my balls right now? 59 wey be sharp C for here. Ooooooooh. Is that why no Nigerian goes to school in China?

Alot of Nigerians school in China.

Yes 59 means you've failed in China so the person should prepare for makeup and if failed again, that's a Retake.

Wow

If only we had this in naija, we would have had many ist class graduates

Hhhmm

Hmmm...

Now's the best time for sharp brains to go school in China and make money at the same time

That's what education is meant to be, not the indoctrination imposed on us by colonial masters many years ago that we go around thinking we're educated.

Evidence of education would mean teachers must know enough (like in China) to know what needs to be done to improve the system itself. If the system is not working (like in Nigeria) real scholars and educationists must be able to diagnose to understand what's wrong and make correction.

The rate at which Nairalanders avoid education threads though

encryptjay:
The rate at which Nairalanders avoid education threads though

They may not really be avoiding it. Perhaps like me before now, they think the education section is mainly for jambites and others seeking for admission somewhere. That may be why the threads don't receive due attention. I'm only getting to discover that's there's a lot going on here, and it's fast becoming my favourite section.

Novel and interesting @op. Thanks.

Gaborone:


They may not really be avoiding it. Perhaps like me before now, they think the education section is mainly for jambites and others seeking for admission somewhere. That may be why the threads don't receive due attention. I'm only getting to discover that's there's a lot going on here, and it's fast becoming my favourite section.

Novel and interesting @op. Thanks.

Yeah, there's a lot going on here but I feel majority of them tend to run to celebrity and Romance threads then maybe politics to right some wars

encryptjay:

Yeah, there's a lot going on here but I feel majority of them tend to run to celebrity and Romance threads then maybe politics to right some wars

Lol. That's true. Romance and Politics section own nairaland. Those are the places where emotions fly, so education section as a whole may never pull as much crowd.