The North Park Student Newspaper Since 2023
Grade-inflation: how will short term joy hurt in the long run
GENERAL NEWS
Aditya N. Rath
6/11/20262 min read
In recent years, the average grades of students at our school have significantly increased compared to other schools in Peel. Some say this is a good thing, that our teachers and students are doing a good job. But there might be a different angle to this, which is mark inflation – the practice of increasing marks through non-academic methods such as "boosts".
In the past years before Covid and online schools (2018), our school was reported to have a grade inflation of around 19.6% (INsauga). This led many universities, such as U of T, to mark students with similar circumstances as ours more severely, leading to lower admissions (The Varsity). However, according to many people, this inflation is starting to return once more, leading to unexpectedly high marks in the student body.
These mark inflations have received many mixed responses; some students say these inflations boost the confidence of the student body, as it allows them to trust their abilities more and do better in academics. Whereas others say these mark inflations shine their school in a bad light, leading universities to mark them as unfit students for their harsh programmes.
There are some truths to both these opinions expressed by students. On one hand, these inflations do boost our morale and reduce our stress, leading to better mental health. But on the other hand, are these short-lived moments of happiness worth risking your future? Because it is true, universities do take these inflations into account, and they do make decisions based on these inflations, which in turn creates more stress than just dealing with the previously un-inflated marks.
But one interesting thing to note here is that these mark inflations that are said to “cure” our stress are in fact making it worse for the high-achieving students, as they now believe their 92s and 94s won’t cut it anymore and they need to achieve marks like 98s and 100s. Which leads to academic dishonesty; there is almost a direct correlation here with cheating and inflation: the greater the inflation, the greater the amount of marks that are needed to compensate for the reductions made by universities.
So I ask you all again: is it truly worth risking your future for these short-lived moments of happiness, or is it better to just bite the bullet and work harder to achieve the marks we actually deserve with non-academic methods or "boosts"? It is up to us to show not just ourselves but our school in a light that we are proud of.