Whereas most institutions attach a lot of significance to grades on papers earned through qualifications, we consider grades as just mere guides. We already know that grades can be very misleading as many candidates are affected by many factors before or during examinations, and these have nothing to do with inherent ability of candidates.
How about if the candidate’s parents perished in a road accident and the candidate was psychologically affected and could not revise nor concentrate in exams, yet he/she has always been a top student?
How about if the candidate fell sick 2 months to exams and had to write the exams from a hospital bed?
Above all, how about if the candidate is NOT endowed academically?
In all these cases, would grades be a true reflection of the candidate’s real ability. The true ability of the candidate can be known through a process known as Professional and Scientific Assessment of Talent (also known as Gift and Talent Testing). This process finds out the candidate’s innate ability MINUS mere intellectual factors like grades or related written exam factors.
More importantly, it is not an Intelligent Quotient (I.Q) Measure as such are narrow and most misleading , as a human is more than just an IQ Test.
There many cases where adults wish to get back to college or university to “add a new cap to my success in the work place or business”. So they make long queues with age-mates of their children to enquire and hope to be admitted.
They are usually disappointed as they are reminded of their low grades more than 10-20 years ago and no one cares about the short term courses, workshops attended and presented at, board meetings chaired, recognitions and achievement awards, etc. More importantly no one cares about their long standing life and work experience EVEN the fact that potential graduates are sent to them for internship and they must sign that they are competent before that can graduate.
In many cases the rigid admission processes in most of our institutions remind them that their grades are low and that they could start from bridging levels. Do you believe that the Managing Director of a successful bank (with grade D acquired 10 years ago) should start at the same level with fresh O or A Level student with grade A? Of course no! That’s where Accreditation for Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) comes in. The system allows career experts to evaluate your work experience and produce a portfolio of your knowledge.
With the portfolio, academic credit points can be determined and these are used to earn you uniform exemptions hence able you to start directly at 2nd or 3 rd year. The process has always been used and some of the candidates have been only required to write specialization paper (also known as thesis) within 1-3 months and got their bachelors or masters degrees.
In other cases, and where combined with qualifications, the same has been used for those with higher potentials, and without formal education, to get doctorate degrees directly. Accreditation for Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) is part of the Talent Based Learning and is the main source of Mature Talent used for the Learning of the Veterans.
Qualifications or grades are the last items we look at during admissions after considering inherent potentials through Gifts and Talents OR Work /Life/Research-based experience.
Based on qualifications, a candidate can get direct admission to a Talent Based Learning Scheme and can also earn direct exemptions, and probably in addition to a Professional Assessment for Gift and Talent Testing to unearth true potentials in terms of talent focus.
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