Finding answers to a comedy of errors |
| By Rypvanwinkle |
The court of King Kekille was in session. The King wanted to find out who was to blame for the mistakes in the Advanced Level examination results. There were many accused: the Commissioner of Examinations, the Chairman of the University Grants Commission, the Senior Tuition Master in charge of education, the Seeni Boley in charge of higher education and the Junior Tuition Master who had just joined the team.
The Commissioner of Examinations was in the dock first.
"Why are these results incorrect?" King Kekille asked, "as the person in charge I think you are responsible and you should be punished."
"I only conducted the examination, Maha Rajaaneni," the Commissioner said, "I do not know anything about what they do with these marks."
"Who do you think is responsible, then?" King Kekille asked.
"After we conduct the examination, the marks are handed over to the University Grants Commission, Maha Rajaaneni, so please spare my life," the Commissioner pleaded.
"You may go" King Kekille ordered, "but summon the next accused, the Chairman of the University Grants Commission."
The Chairman of the University Grants Commission was in the dock next.
"And what have you got to say?" King Kekille demanded.
"It is true that we do some calculations based on the marks the Examinations Department has sent us," the Chairman said, "but this is not our fault, Maha Rajaaneni."
"How could you say that?" King Kekille asked, "it is your office that came up with these incorrect calculations, so tell me why you should not be punished?"
"We can explain that, Maha Rajaaneni," the Chairman said, "because the incorrect calculations were the result of marks being calculated in two different ways."
"And why were marks calculated in two different ways?" King Kekille wanted to know.
"That, Maha Rajaaneni," the Chairman explained, "was because the examination was held in two different ways, one for the 'old' syllabus and another for the 'new' syllabus."
"And who is responsible for that?" King Kekille demanded.
"That would be the Senior Tuition Master in charge of education, Maha Rajaaneni…" the Chairman said, "so please spare my life."
"You may go" King Kekille ordered, "but summon the next accused, the Senior Tuition Master in charge of education."
The Senior Tuition Master in charge of education stood in the dock.
"Everyone seems to think this is your fault," King Kekille declared, "what have you got to say?"
"I have done nothing wrong, Maha Rajaaneni," the Senior Tuition Master in charge of education said, "in fact, I have done my job as best as I can."
"How can you say that when all these calculations are incorrect and everyone is complaining that they have received incorrect results?" King Kekille asked.
"There is absolutely nothing wrong with the results, Maha Rajaaneni," the Senior Tuition Master in charge of education said, "all the mistakes are in the calculation."
"But," King Kekille retorted, "those who did the calculations say that they made those mistakes because you changed the syllabus from 'old' to 'new'."
"I did, Maha Rajaaneni," the Senior Tuition Master in charge of education said, "but I have quite openly said that even I do not understand the formula that they use to do all these calculations…"
"Who is supposed to understand these calculations, then?"
"Why, Maha Rajaaneni, you appointed someone to supervise all matters related to education. Maybe he should have done that, so please be kind enough to spare my life," the Senior Tuition Master in charge of education said.
"You may go" King Kekille ordered, "but summon the next accused, the Junior Tuition Master who was supposed to supervise education."
The Junior Tuition Master supervising education stood in the dock.
"And why didn't you do your job properly and supervise all these matters?" King Kekille asked.
"Maha Rajaaneni," the Junior Tuition Master supervising education said, "as you would recall, I joined this team only recently and that too only to protect my international schools, so I know nothing about any of this."
"So you had no hand in any of these decisions?" King Kekille asked.
"Of course not, Maha Rajaaneni," the Junior Tuition Master supervising education said, "although I was hoping I would, when I joined."
"But if I am to let you go, I must find who is responsible for these mistakes," King Kekille said, "so, who do you think should be punished?"
"All I know is that the man ultimately responsible for these calculations and entrance into universities is the Seeni Boley in charge of higher education, so please spare my life, Maha Rajaaneni," the Junior Tuition Master supervising education said.
"You may go" King Kekille ordered, "but summon the next accused, the Seeni Boley in charge of higher education."
The Seeni Boley in charge of higher education stood in the dock.
"You are the last accused; I think I would have to punish you," King Kekille said.
"But, Maha Rajaaneni," the Seeni Boley in charge of higher education said, "I don't think that is quite fair."
"Well," King Kekille said, "everyone else is blaming someone else for this and I have to punish someone."
"I quite understand that, Maha Rajaaneni," the Seeni Boley in charge of higher education said, "but I think I know who is ultimately responsible for this and it is up to you to punish that person or not."
"And who would that be?" King Kekille wanted to know.
"Pardon me, Maha Rajaaneni," the Seeni Boley in charge of higher education said, "but it is you who wanted to release these marks in a hurry and that is what led to all these mistakes so I think you are responsible for all this."
"Oh, I see," King Kekille said, pausing to think, "now, I can't punish myself, can I?"
"Of course not, Maha Rajaaneni, we wouldn't want you to do that," all the accused said in unison.
"Then we shall say it was the students who made the mistakes or that it was a computer error," King Kekille proposed, "or maybe even appoint a committee to inquire into all this."
"Ehemai Maha Rajaaneni," all the accused said in unison.
The case was dismissed. |
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