The ‘Retake’ dilemma

Posted on October 4, 2006 - Filed Under Punch Forum |

Ms. Ric
4 Oct 2006


To re-take or not to re-take is the dilemma. I think we have to stop and look at the bigger picture here. By mandating a re-take, President Arroyo is more or less setting a precedent where a re-take is a must every time someone sees fit to cheat, be it on bar exams, board exams, or other professional exams. The rest of the population who are honestly trying to pass these exams to the best of their ability are at the very least lumped into this huge bowl of low-life cheaters anonymous, and at most have to live with this stigma for the rest of their lives. The board members who perpetuated this injustice should be stripped of any professional credential and thrown in jail for a VERY long time.

Those who failed it the first time should always be given that option of taking it over, but let it be known that’s it is not their first time taking the test. I don’t understand Mr. Duque’s position on letting these people take it again and pretend it’s their first time at it. They failed. Why shouldn’t it count against them? And how about those who passed it who weren’t involve in this controversy? Instead of mandating a re-take, let it be an optional one. Let them decide what’s best for themselves. Some of them would probably argue that it’s the principle of it all. That to re-take would be to acknowledge that they indeed had a hand in it. But at the same time it behooves them to think about what’s at stake. Their reputation is on the line. The public’s mind has been poisoned and there’s no undoing what had happened.

I also question Mr. Duque’s comment on the re-take being “un-Filipino” like because they’ve already spent money on the celebratory “blow-out”. Napakababaw naman yata ng dahilan na ito. Mr. Sandiego’s resistance to the idea of re-taking the test is also understandable. It will be very hard for him to replicate what he did before, be a top notcher. Not because he doesn’t have what it takes, but because there are other variables now in the picture. We’ve all taken a test at one point or another.

Let me use a driver’s license test analogy. A 16-yr. old, California teen-ager takes the test for the first time, passes and scores a perfect 100% move to Idaho and finds out she needs to take the test over again if she wants to drive around because her conditional license is only good in California. Although the gist of traffic rules is the same, each state has its own quirks. The teen-ager now scores 76%, a let down from her perfect score, but she still passes. What happened? It could be as simple as what she had for breakfast or as complicated as the difference between urban and rural driving. Or she’s so inexperience that everything she regurgitated the first time was based on memory skills. Does she have the application skills needed to comprehend what driving is all about? It’s very unlikely. To be an excellent driver, you first have to be behind the wheel for a number of years.

Like Vicky implied before, it’s the experience they accumulate after becoming nurses that determines their success at what they do. Whether or not Mr. Sandiego sets another record should not be used as an indication of what he is capable of, but rather his willingness to try it again should be a reflection of his character.

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