How can a seahorse’s hard and bony body covering be an advantage? It protects the seahorse from injury and reduces the chances of predators successfully feeding on it. It acts as an armour that protects the seahorse from predators.

L Lawyer Edwin Lee’s son wasasked to name a differencebetween two animals, F and G.He wrote: “Animal F hasscales but animal G does not.”

The Primary 3 pupil scoredonly half the marks. Thecorrect answer was: “Animal Fhas scales but animal G doesnot have scales.”

Said Mr Lee, 46: “Thisissue is different from keywords. It’s unnecessarilypedantic in this case.”

Other answers pupils werepenalised for include: “badconductor of heat”, instead of“poor conductor of heat”, and“light goes in a straight line”,instead of “light travels in astraight line”.L Psychologist Inez Perera,49, who has a daughter in

Secondary 1, said: “Insistingthat answers have to beexpressed in a certain waystifles creativity. Schoolsshould be more flexible in theway they assess language andexpression.”L Mrs Tracy Ng, 41, who hastwo sons in primary schooland a daughter in Secondary 2,said: “Being precise in the useof language is part of buildingup a foundation in scienceeducation so that there’s nomisunderstanding ofconcepts.”L A science department headin a primary school said: “Wewant children to be preciseand spell out processes so thatthere’s no ambiguity. Wedon’t want to second-guesstheir thoughts.”

By AMELIA TENGand PEARL LEE

EXPLAIN how the hard, bonybody of a seahorse could be anadvantage.

The right answer, according toone Primary 6 science teacher, is:“It protects the seahorse from in-jury and reduces the chances ofpredators successfully feeding onit.”

But the child who wrote “Itacts as an armour that protectsthe seahorse from predators” wastold that her answer was wrong.

This was one of several exam-ples thrown up by parents, whohave complained recently that pri-mary school science teachers aretoo rigid in marking open-endedquestions, and are emphasisingrote learning over the understand-ing of concepts.

This, despite schools havingshifted to an inquiry-based learn-ing approach in science since2008. With the approach, pupilsare encouraged to ask questions,analyse data and come to theirown conclusions.

Several parents wrote to TheStraits Times Forum page earlierthis month, calling for schools tobe more flexible. Most said theirchildren were unduly penalisedfor answers that had the samemeaning as the correct ones, butdid not contain the right “keywords”.

The children had been told byteachers to stick to key phrasesand words found in textbooks, inorder to get full marks in assign-ments or tests.

On top of those who wrote in,nine in 10 parents contacted byThe Straits Times felt that theteachers have been overly strict.

Psychologist Inez Perera, 49,whose daughter was in Primary 6last year, recalled: “She had tomemorise so many model an-swers. Some made sense, but doesit have to be so rigid?”

Ms Elizabeth Tan, whose son isin Primary 6, said he resorted towriting key phrases and sentencesrepeatedly to remember them forhis examinations.

“You’re teaching children thatthere’s only one answer for everyquestion, and they can’t think outof the box,” said the 41-year-oldhousewife.

“Children are meant to exploreideas and discover things in sci-ence... but it seems key words aremore important.”

But others, including mother ofthree Tracy Ng, 41, felt that preci-sion in learning the language ofscience was important.

“It’s part of building up a foun-dation in science education sothat there’s no misunderstandingof concepts,” said the sales manag-er in a pharmaceutical company.

Five teachers spoken to saidthat they decide which answers

can be accepted after group discus-sions.

But one primary school teach-er, who has taught science, mathe-matics and English in the past dec-ade, admitted that even teachersthemselves have different pointsof view when it comes to how an-swers should be worded in sciencetests.

“It’s quite controversial be-cause language comes into play,”said the teacher, who declined tobe named.

“But in the end, the head of de-partment for science will stillhave to make the call on the ac-cepted answer.”

One such department head,who also wanted to remain anony-mous, said: “Schools may comeup with slightly different markingschemes, so it depends on how le-nient each school is.”

But she pointed out that “regur-gitating” answers will not work,as science questions in the Prima-ry School Leaving Examination

have become more application-based in recent years.

“We’re fine-tuning questionsto link them to real-life situa-tions,” she said.

“It’s not about key words, butshowing that they understand con-cepts.”

In response to queries, theSingapore Examinations and As-sessment Board and the Ministryof Education said that answersthat “show evidence of under-standing of relevant concepts andmastery of skill sets would be care-fully evaluated and awarded duecredit”.

Said a spokesman for both theexam board and the ministry: “An-swers that deviate from the mark-ing scheme but demonstrate theright understanding are accepted.

“On the other hand, the mark-ing must be robust enough to ex-clude conceptually flawed or am-biguous responses.”

ateng@sph.com.sgleepearl@sph.com.sg

Pedantic or precise?

By PRISCILLA GOY

ST170 Treats is proving a hit withreaders.

The year-long programme tomark The Straits Times’ 170thbirthday has already receivedclose to 4,000 entries in less thana week, after it was launched lastTuesday.

The first set of Treats includes

10 pairs of tickets to Americansinger Christina Perri’s concert atResorts World Sentosa on Feb 27,and a seven-course dinner fortwo, worth more than $800, at ac-claimed French restaurant Jaan.

Other goodies include atwo-night junior suite stay fortwo on board Star Cruises’ Super-Star Gemini to Malacca or KualaLumpur, worth more than $3,700,

and a “discovery menu” for two,worth more than $500, at CornerHouse restaurant in the BotanicGardens.

Said Straits Times editor War-ren Fernandez: “The response hasbeen fabulous, and we are gladour readers seem to be keen onthe Treats we have lined up forthem.

“We are working with our part-

ners on more Treats to come forthe rest of this special year, as wemark both ST’s 170th andSingapore’s 50th birthdays.”

Some of the giveaways havebeen specially selected by thepaper’s senior beat writers, includ-ing food writers Wong Ah Yokeand Tan Hsueh Yun.

Throughout the year, morenew Treats, including front-row

seats to see British boy band OneDirection perform in Singaporenext month, will be unveiled onthe contest website.

For a chance to win, readersjust need to answer a questionabout the prize they want.

To get more details about thecontest, go to 1845.straitstimes.com

goyshiyi@sph.com.sg

LONDON – Toxic fumes in cabinair pose a health risk to frequentfliers and air crew, a British coro-ner has said.

Passengers frequently exposedto fumes circulating in planes face“consequential damage to theirhealth”, said Mr Stanhope Payne,senior coroner for Dorset, in thereport.

Mr Payne, who is investigatingthe death of British Airways (BA)pilot Richard Westgate, sent thereport to the airline and toBritain’s Civil Aviation Authority(CAA) so that they can take “ur-gent action to prevent futuredeaths”, The Telegraph reported.

Mr Westgate, who was on medi-cal leave when he died in 2012 atthe age of 43, believed he hadbeen poisoned by repeated expo-sure to contaminated cabin air.

Mr Payne, who has been inves-tigating the death for the last twoyears, according to ITV news,wrote that examinations of MrWestgate’s body “disclosed symp-toms consistent with exposure toorganophosphate compounds inaircraft cabin air”.

Organophosphate is a chemicalused as pesticide.

The report also said air passen-gers are exposed to these com-pounds, with consequential dam-age to their health.

“Impairments to the health ofthose controlling the aircraft –i.e., the pilots – may lead to thedeath of the occupants,” it said.

Commercial flights have a sys-tem which compresses air fromthe engines and uses it to pressu-rise the cabin, The Telegraph said.

But if the system malfunctions,excess oil particles enter the airsupply, which can be harmfulwhen recirculated in a confinedspace, the coroner said.

Most passengers, who fly onlyoccasionally, will not be affectedby the problem, but some fre-quent travellers who are genetical-ly susceptible to the toxins couldfall ill, The Telegraph, which ob-tained Mr Payne’s report, said.

Airlines have said there is nocause for concern. A KLM studyinto air quality in aircraft cockpitsin 2013, prompted by a court rul-ing in a case between a pilot andthe airline, found that TCP – aneurotoxin – was present only “inminimal concentrations in aircraftcockpits”, The Telegraph said.

Yet, Mr Payne’s call for urgentaction is likely to be welcomed bycampaigners who have raised con-cerns about toxic fumes in cabinair for years.

Mr Frank Cannon, lawyer forMr Westgate’s case, said he wasacting for about 50 other cabincrew allegedly affected by the syn-drome, working for airlines includ-ing Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Eti-had, Thomas Cook and EasyJet.He is also representing two pas-sengers, The Telegraph said.

BA and the CAA have untilApril 13 to reply to the report.

Men turned up in skirts to join a protestcondemning violence against women in centralIstanbul last Saturday.

Turkey’s President last week described violenceagainst women as the “bleeding wound” of thecountry after Ms Ozgecan Aslan, 20, was stabbed

and beaten to death when she tried to fight off aman attempting to rape her. Despite a surge inviolence against women in Turkey last year, theparticularly brutal and public attack on Ms Aslanhas become a rallying point, prompting protestsand condemnation by politicians. PHOTO: REUTERS

SIN

CE

CELEBRATING 170 YEARS

ST170 Treats draws nearly 4,000 entries in less than a week

Some parents say marking is toorigid and promotes rote learning

‘Beware of toxicfumes’ inaircraft cabin air

NO SKIRTING ISSUE OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Only oneright answerto sciencequestions?

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