No Names

Vice Boss came and sat in front of me, looking very serious. "Your Head of Panel ..."

As soon as he said those words, I knew nothing good would ensue.

Well, you see, a complaint was lodged against me by my Head of Department and Head of Panel. What did I do wrong? I did not follow the procedure when I prepared exam questions. I did not let the Head of Panel sign on the question papers. Nor did I let the Head of Department nor Boss sign.

I accept that charge fully. Because that was what I did not do. But why did not I just collect those signatures and have them printed in my exam question papers?

1. I put in a lot of effort in setting the Form 5 exam questions. I do not know why, but I have a lot of passion for teaching Form 5. Since 2007, I have taken it upon myself to prepare questions from scratch. The standard practice is to photocopy from books here and there and then construct an exam paper out of those. The better teachers will at least type the questions after selecting them from various books. With the advent of technology, some teachers will just download sets of questions off the Internet and attached a cover with the school logo on it. But, I go for authentic materials. I source magazines, newspapers, and also articles in the Internet to prepare "original" questions. I spend a long time to set those questions, till I'm happy with the standard and the quality. I usually do it during weekends, cooped up in the house in front of the computer. Though the papers may not be perfect, I take a lot of pride in them. I do not want the other teachers to see it, lest they may hint to the students the questions that may be tested. I do not want my effort wasted, just because some questions leaked.

2. In answer to no. 1, Vice Boss suggested that I print their names on the cover. They will be signing on the cover and not look inside, he says. Fair enough. But what for? I prepared the paper. Only my name should be on it. So what if they are the Department or Panel Heads? What have they contributed? They have done nothing except to pick on every little wrong doing that I do.

3. I'm stubborn. I absolutely do not want anything to do with the two Heads. Their quality of work has never met my standards. So why should I make my papers an eyesore with their names on it? To put it very bluntly, I feel very strongly that they are NOT qualified to sign on my papers.

4. Just because the two do not put down their signature on the papers, does it affect the validity and reliability of the test? I can assure you my test papers have got face and content validity. That is the most important thing of all, isn't it?

I hate politics in the work place. I go along doing my work finely, and there comes these vicious people attacking here and there. You'd think that I'm being petty. But for me, it's a matter of principle. I'm also not saying here that everyone should set original questions such as I like to do. All I'm asking is for a little bit of commitment and the correct attitude at work.

Vice Boss was just letting me know of the complaint so that I would be prepared, in case they made a big issue out of it to Boss. Whatever it was, I did not care. At the end of the day, I only have to ask Boss : Would you rather have me or them in this school? Deep down in my heart I know the answer.