Scripts lost, retake exam please by Siyun

Summary

31 mass communication students from Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) had been told to re-sit for a multiple-choice-question paper because the school had lost their papers.

MDIS’s partner in Mass Communication programme, Oklahoma City University (OCU), has advised the students to re-sit the paper as no marks would be awarded to them if they did not do so.

According to a student, it was frustrating as they were only given 3 weeks to prepare.

Another students said, "We spent nine days in September preparing for the paper under the guidance of OCU lecturers, but now have to re—do the exam without any refresher lessons.”

MDIS did not specify how the papers were lost. However, it was known that papers are usually sent to partner universities over courier and some schools scanned the original exam scripts before sending as a precaution.

My opinions

I think it is very unfortunate and irresponsible for such a thing to happen in school. I will feel very frustrated if something like this were to happen to me. At MDIS, after putting in a lot of effort and studying hard for a paper and finally, the students was relieved that the papers were over and done with. After that, the school surprised by telling them that the papers were lost and they have to re-sit the paper or else they would be awarded 0 marks for that component. Luckily, I have not experience this before.

I feel sorry for the 31 MDIS mass communications students. However, as accidents like this can always happen so there is no other choice but to study again. The students took the paper once, surely they can do it again. 

Although MDIS is a non-for profit organisation and is government funded so the fees are generally cheaper as compared to other private schools, this does not mean that their standard is as good as the government schools, which are usually very careful and cautious with important tasks such as the handling of exam papers. I think that after this incident, MDIS should be more cautious or they can adopt other schools’ ways- for instance, to screen exam scripts as a precaution.

I think that MDIS should apologise to the affected students properly. Afterall, they paid their school fees and did not expect this to happen at all.

This is not the first unpleasant incident that happened in MDIS. Back in November, MDIS discontinued its partnership with Perth's Edith Cowan University (ECU) and more than 800 students were affected as they have to take other degrees which were picked by MDIS or else, they have to study in Perth in order to get the degree they have studied for originally. Another choice is that they can get a refund, which means that all their efforts of studying would go down the drain.

All in all, MDIS should really do something to build up their reputation again as I’m quite certain that students would now think twice before enrolling in MDIS after hearing about these news.


From this article:

Scripts lost, retake exam please

SINGAPORE: Imagine having to retake an examination two months after the original test because the answer scripts have been lost. That is what happened to 31 students from the Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS).

In what may be the first incident of its kind, these mass communication students were told to re—sit for a multiple—choice—question (MCQ) paper on Saturday because the scripts for the original paper, which they took on October 9, had been "inadvertently disposed".

In a letter dated Nov 30, the private school told the students that Oklahoma City University (OCU) — its partner university in the Mass Communications Programme — had advised MDIS that the students should re—do the paper, "failing which it would be difficult for the university to assess and award marks for the MCQ component".

No marks will be awarded for the MCQ component on research methodology should students fail to turn up for this re—sit, according to the letter, a copy of which MediaCorp had obtained.

A 20—year—old student said it was a "frustrating" situation, especially since they were given "such short notice" — three weeks to prepare.

When contacted, an MDIS spokeswoman confirmed the incident and said it was an "administrative lapse, and we’re in contact with the students to address the matter".

"Only a small number of students are affected. We’ve taken measures to avoid such an incident from happening again. We’re working toward the best interests of our students to ensure they won’t be disadvantaged in any way," she added.

It is believed MDIS would on Friday speak to the full—time, final—year students —— majority of whom are foreigners —— to get feedback on how best to help them.

One student wondered if this was too late. "We spent nine days in September preparing for the paper under the guidance of OCU lecturers, but now have to re—do the exam without any refresher lessons," said the 19 year old.

MDIS did not say how the papers could have been lost. From speaking to other schools, MediaCorp understands that exam papers are sent to partner universities usually via courier.

Some schools also scan the original scripts as a back—up. It is not known what precautions MDIS had in place.

According to the OCU website, MDIS began partnering the university in 1992 to provide Singaporean students with a mass communications education at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

The courses here last up to two years and consist of 13 modules. Lessons include those on news gathering and writing, television scripting and production, and advertising and public relations campaigns.

Done by: Lee Si Yun