A teacher has come under scrutiny after allegedly deducting marks from a Year One pupil for using a darker shade of red on a Science worksheet.
A LOCAL teacher has come under fire online after allegedly deducting marks from a Year One pupil for using a darker shade of red in a Science worksheet.
Images of the worksheet, which have been widely circulated on social media, showed pupils being instructed to differentiate between living and non-living things using yellow and red respectively.
Although the pupil had correctly identified the items, the answers coloured in a darker shade of red were allegedly marked as incorrect.
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Meanwhile, the section requiring the pupil to list examples of living and non-living things received full marks.
According to screenshots shared online, the child’s parent later contacted the teacher to seek clarification and was allegedly informed that the shade of red used by the pupil did not meet the worksheet’s requirements.
The teacher reportedly told the parent that the child was the only pupil in the class who had used the “wrong” shade of red, saying it was not bright enough.
The parent argued that the lesson was intended to assess the child’s understanding of the concepts of living and non-living things and that the instructions had been followed.
“I feel sorry for students who already understand the Science concept but have marks deducted because they used the wrong shade of colour pencil,” the parent reportedly told the teacher.
However, the teacher allegedly defended the decision, saying the marks were deducted to encourage the pupil to be more attentive to instructions.
The parent disagreed, insisting that the child had completed the task correctly and demonstrated a clear understanding of the subject.
“The issue is not the shade of the red colour pencil. It is not about my child being unable to understand instructions or not understanding Science. As parents, we have prepared their stationery as best we can. A darker shade of red is still red.
“Are parents expected to buy premium colour pencil sets with 24 or 48 colours just so the teacher can get the exact shade of red they want? Science assesses a child’s understanding of concepts, not whose colour pencil set is more complete. My child’s understanding of the Science concept was 100% correct,” the parent said.
The incident triggered debate among netizens, many of whom questioned the decision to deduct marks based on the shade of colour used, arguing that the pupil had complied with the instructions and demonstrated an understanding of the lesson.
In the comments section, another social media user claimed that their child, who is allegedly a classmate of the pupil involved, had experienced a similar situation after using a colour closest to yellow because they did not have the exact shade available.
