By VEENA BHARWANI

You will be penalised for making grammatical errors in your English exam paper.

But what if your English teacher makes such errors in setting the paper?

That's exactly what happened at a neighbourhood school in the west. The errors were found in a Secondary 3 Express English examination paper.

One parent wrote to The New Paper to highlight the mistakes.

The errors appeared in Section Two of the paper.

Students were asked to write a speech as the winner of the Student of the Year award.

They were given the following instructions: 'The speech is intended to serve as an encourage and inspiraton for your fellow schoolmates, and provide valuable tips on how to prepare for examination.

Write a speech to clearly sharing your success story and what advice you would offer to your school mates.'

The school's principal has acknowledged that the English teacher made a mistake, and said the school should have spotted the errors much earlier.

He said: 'The mistakes were spotted on the day of the exam and the teachers invigilating the paper informed the students immediately. The corrections were then reflected onthe board.'

He added that he is not sure why the mistakes were not corrected much earlier.

'Teachers are human too. It must have escaped their notice,' he said.

He said the teacher in question had been counselled and warned to be more careful in future. He has also stepped up vetting procedures for examinations at the school.

He said: 'Previously, after the teacher set the paper, the head of department vetted it. Now a third person - either the vice-principal or another senior teacher - will go through the paper to make sure there are no mistakes.'

OTHER SCHOOLS SAY...

SCHOOLS take the vetting of exam papers very seriously, said five teachers The New Paper spoke to.

Said a head of department at a secondary school: 'First, the teacher sets the paper, then it goes to the head. Once the mistakes are spotted, it goes back to the teacher, and then the head will re-check it. If necessary, this process is repeated several times.'

A primary school teacher said her school is so strict about vetting that the principal goes through all the papers personally.

'It may sound extreme, but these are exams and must be taken seriously,' she said.

The head of English in a secondary school said taking a tough stand is the only way to eliminate errors.

'My teachers know that I don't condone any errors even if they are minor,' she said. 'Students will question and lose respect for us if we, as teachers, can't get it right.'

This article was first published in The New Paper.