I saw/experienced something while proctoring (cant spell invigulating) yesterday that I tried to suppress but cant anymore. Must get it out! One student had his mobile phone confiscated because he had it on, two minutes into exam. Yes, he was wrong to have it on but I dont think he was cheating. However, what made me angry was the reaction of the proctors when he was asking it back at end of the exam. One proctor was scolding him, saying he had to pay the 50 ringgit fine. The one who had actually confiscated it, was just smiling and looking very smug, as if triumphant that it was HE who had confiscated it. This proctor offered no solutions as to how this poor kid could get his phone back. Even the chief proctor was struggling to remember where he should go. The student went to the first floor to a couple of counters, where the staff were rude. I dont know if he got his phone that day. The point is, all five people that this guy confronted had this air of authority about them. They were in a position to either make it easy for this guy or make it difficult. They chose to make it difficult. They were given power to affect this guys life for a brief moment and boy were they going to make the most of it! They are ordinary, run of the mill people who strutted their authority and enjoyed seeing someone be a slave to their power ... for a simple mobile phone. What right do we have to charge 50 ringgit? Confiscate ok but give it right back after the exam. It doesnt belong to us? What law allows us to charge a student 50 ringgit???!!! And why cant we even tell this person where he can reclaim what is rightfully his? We took it from him after all!!! A mobile phone these days is an important personal item. How can we send it to the bowels of Block A and ask the rightful owner to look for it himself, having to go through some of the rudest staff I have come across??? I am so glad Im leaving his place. Not because of the students but because of the bureaucracy ... because we dont treat students the way they deserve to be treated, like the students and customers, and not slaves. Yes, proctors/lecturers should be treated with respect by default ... but we need to then prove that we are deserving of this respect to maintain a healthy teacher-student relationship. Once we abuse this power, we actually become lower than a student who cheats in an exam. Because we have not fulfilled our part of the unwritten agreement to help and serve those who have come to us to help them along as they negotiate the next phase of their lives. Bro, whoever you are, I hope youve got your mobile phone back. I apologise on behalf of UCSI that you had to take a single step more than you should have done to get back what is rightfully yours.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 03:46:13 +0000
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