A recent social media post has been making the rounds online after a parent reached out to her child’s teacher to question why a school assignment had been marked wrong.
The story has since gone viral, with the shared images showing the task instructions, which asked students to “colour living things yellow and non-living things red”.
Teacher claims standard one student used the wrong shade of red
The post included screenshots of a WhatsApp conversation between the parent and the teacher. While the parent insisted that her child had followed all the instructions correctly, the teacher explained that the answer was marked wrong because the child used a shade of red that appeared closer to maroon or dark red.
The teacher wrote:
“The red colour your child used looks more like maroon or dark red, doesn’t it? As far as I know, your child was the only one who got it wrong, while everyone else got it right. Your child said they didn’t have a bright red colour pencil.”
Parent advocates for conceptual understanding over stationery
In response, the parent respectfully explained that while she understood the expectation for a bright red shade, the primary focus should be on the Science concept of classifying living and non-living things.
She politely asked the teacher to reconsider the grading:
“I apologise, teacher. I understand that the shade may be a little dark and appears more maroon than bright red. However, this is a Standard One Science subject, and the main focus is on classifying living and non-living things.
“In terms of understanding the concept, my child coloured the correct group according to the instructions in the question (non-living things in a shade of red and living things in yellow).”
Teacher defends strict marking scheme
The teacher later explained that the strict marking was intended to teach the child a lesson about precision and following instructions closely.
“I marked it that way so your child would pay closer attention to instructions. They shouldn’t take instructions lightly. If you’d like me to correct the mark, please bring the worksheet on Friday,” the teacher stated.
Maroon is still a shade of red
However, the mother disagreed, pointing out that her child had comprehended the lesson perfectly, successfully classifying all living and non-living things without a single mistake in the written answers below the drawing.
“The issue of not having a bright red colour pencil is a stationery limitation, not because my child didn’t read or understand the instructions or the Science lesson. As parents, we provide school supplies based on what we can afford. Maroon is still a shade of red. Parents shouldn’t be expected to buy premium colouring sets with 24 or 48 colours just to get the exact bright red shade a teacher prefers.
“Science is supposed to assess a child’s understanding of concepts, not the completeness of their colouring pencil set. My child’s understanding of the science concept was 100% correct. I hope this doesn’t happen again and that schools will assess students more fairly based on their understanding and mastery of concepts, rather than small differences in colour shades.”
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments!
