Grades Don’t Measure Intelligence

A very good morning to our honorable judges, headmasters, teachers, time keeper and

all my fellow friends. My speech today is entitled “Grades do not measure intelligence”.

Many times, grades do not measure our intelligence. There are times when students

have bad days, sick days or time suffering from test anxiety. All of these will affect exam

grades, thus the grades cannot measure how much we have mastered the subjects or

how intelligent we are.

On the other hand, what about the individuals who cannot afford an education and do

not know facts that seem basic to you? Do you also consider them as unintelligent

students? They could happen to know more than anyone of us. For example a kid who

has never been to school but has been helping out in the vegetables farm, he will know

everything related to planting vegetables, from identifying seeds to harvesting and the

types of vegetables.

Everybody has different strengths and weaknesses. Some are very good in Science

and English but they fail Mathematics tests. However when this happens, many will

perceive them as being less intelligent due to the one subject that has failed to score. If

you cannot score A in your English paper. It is okay as you could be good at

Mathematics. You can be an accountant in the future then. If you cannot score A in your

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Science paper, it’s fine. You could be good at drawing which you could be an artist next

time. If you cannot score A in your Mathematic paper but you can sing well. You could

be a singer as your career then.

Grades limits us. Grades are important for our future especially when we are looking for

jobs. This is because most people think that if you have good grades, you are smart. If

you have low grades, you are less intelligent. When people think this way, they are

devaluing the person. Even so, everyone is good in their own way, just might not be

academically. For example, you can excel in sports if you are gifted with in sports, such

as Liverpool footballer Muhammad Salah. This does not indicate that he is not good

academically but he can be our role model to look up to if we are good in sports.

Besides that, famous and successful people in the digital world could be another

choice. For example, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is a wealthy and successful

businessman who dropped out Harvard University two years into his degree and later

cofounded Microsoft. He is intelligent and yet he did not have a college degree when he

started his company. Likewise, Steve Jobs was also a college dropout but later co-

founded Apple. This is not to say that education is not important but it is not THE

MOST IMPORTANT factor to decide if a person will be successful in his life in future.

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Grades cannot measure our intelligence. The numerical system also cannot define how

smart one person is. If you get low grades in exam, and people start marking you as

less intelligence, prove them wrong! Strive hard in what you do best!

In some countries including Finland, schools do not even have tests or if they do there

are a few. So if grades DO measure intelligence then the students in these countries will

never find out how intelligent they are!!!

Therefore, students should worry less about their grades and instead care more about

understanding what they have learned . Getting an “A” on a test will not mean anything

if you cannot use the knowledge you learned to real-life situations. In fact, students

should concentrate on developing their critical thinking and problem-solving skills rather

than simply memorizing information for a test.

In conclusion, I agree that grades can be important but it is definitely not a way to

determine the intelligence of someone. It cannot define who you are, and how you will

do in the future. Low grades achievers should never give up on ourselves or feel

useless. Being a straight A score does not determine good job performance, tip-top

socializing skill or high emotional intelligence. As long as we do our best to strive and

contribute, we are equally valuable. Thank you very much.