What is a D grade anyway?

Dear Editor,

Now that the 2020 national examination results have been made public, I think that the discussion about the national average being a D deserves some attention but not a bashing as some are in the habit of doing.

Kudos to the staff at the Ministry of Education Testing and Evaluation Division who worked indefatigably to administer the examinations, to get the scripts marked, and to have the BJC and BGCSE grades released prior to the Christmas holidays. Many candidates got an early Christmas gift because they performed exceptionally well despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the delayed start of the examinations. Parents beamed with pride as they viewed their children’s examination result slip. They too deserve to be applauded for helping their children to stay sane while studying for these high-stake exams.

Contrary to what the naysayers were prognosticating, there was improvement in candidate performance in 15 subjects at the BGCSE level. They will probably attribute this to the fact that the number of candidates who took the examination declined. A nation cannot be built on negative ‘wibe’ to use a youthful parlance. We need to stop riding on the bandwagon of negativity. It is not needed in this COVID era.

Having spent some 17 years in the educational system, 13 of those in The Bahamas, I think it’s high time someone addressed the perennial D average. What’s a D and why is it frowned upon? Many people have no idea what it is but just repeat what they hear being said in the public domain.

Time and again the minister with responsibility for education has tried to explain the difference between the GCE O level system and the BGCSE system, but nobody seems to be buying the explanation because we are all stuck in what we know — a D in our time, probably epoch could best convey the antediluvian period to which I am referring, was a failure; so how come a D can now be a passing grade?

A D mark in the O level seven-point scale means that the candidate has failed the examination but in the BGCSE system, which operates on an eight-point scale, it means that the candidate has passed the exam. They operate on two different scales, and whenever the D average is mentioned, this must ALWAYS be borne in mind. Why did the Ministry of Education decide to go with an eight-point scale? That is up for another discussion.

Some talk show hosts and pundits continually lambaste the D average. But, for us to truly vilify this D we must honestly ask ourselves, do all schools in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas have the same grading system? Of course not!

For example, Chloe Smith, who goes to Jones High School, is a D student. Jonathan Bigley, who attends Forbes High School, is also a D student. A D grade is between 40 percent and 49 percent at JHS while at FHS it is from 50 percent to 59 percent. These two students are both D students, but are they truly performing at the same level of competency?

While in the classroom, I’ve encountered many transferred students who were A or B students, many of them made the honor roll or principal’s list at their former school but could barely pass my class or make a 2.0 GPA. Let me be clear that by a pass mark I mean making a 50 percent. This shows that everybody has a different grading system and that is why we constantly talk over one another.

From my knowledge, a student who is awarded a D grade on the national examination has satisfied at least 50 percent of the syllabus requirements for the subject. Logically speaking, can you say that someone who has scored 50 percent, under timed conditions covering material/information over a three-year period at the BJC level (six years at the BGCSE level) with multiple papers for different subjects, has failed?

Should a candidate who got all Ds or Cs on their examination result slip feel proud of their accomplishments? I say yes, that is, if they have performed to the best of their ability. If they could have done better, then they can retake the exams in the next sitting to show their true worth.

But nobody has any right to make a candidate feel less than because they didn’t get an A. Are we all doctors? Are we all lawyers? Are we all teachers? Are we all mechanics? We need each students to understand that they have God-given worth or value and they must contribute positively to the betterment of their community, country, and the world on a broader spectrum.

In no way am I saying that the nation should be happy with just a pass. The cliched statement “the sky’s the limit” still stands true and must be the standard for excellence. However, we must also be honest and be very careful that we do not advocate for a system that caters only to the top 10 percent of the student population while leaving the masses behind.

It is a known fact that the top 10 percent of students (crème de la crème) do not need a teacher, just a facilitator. They are already wired for success regardless of the teacher’s style or personality. Aside from their self will, nothing can stop them. As a former educator, my greatest joy came from the impossible or those deemed incapable of passing the subject.

Praying for my students every day, encouraging them, and speaking with them on a one-on-one basis and reassuring them of their God-given talent made a huge difference in how they performed. Nothing beats letting a student know how you feel about him/her. Many don’t even know that a teacher notices their efforts or even know their names because nine out of 10 times they are dwarfed by the high flyers.

Let me be clear that this piece is in no way intended to celebrate the D average or indolence, but rather to get us to rethink our bashing of a person who is performing at the D average.

In no way should we ever celebrate or reward cognitive laziness. It is time we encourage our children to do their best not just to get an A, which to be frank, is for us parents to brag about when we see our friends, co-workers, et cetera. A child can be book smart but dumb as a door post on the streets. Book smart and street smart go hand in hand.

Let us rethink our D perspective. We probably need to rid ourselves of our being mentally trapped in the past and start seeing that many of our students who are achieving D averages are doing more subjects on their timetable, more content required with more distractions than we ever did in our time at school.

The time has probably come for us to lobby for a standardized grading system across the length and breadth of this archipelagic nation, then we can settle this D average argument once and for all.

— Carlyle Peart

Associate pastor of Christian education

Grace Community Church

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