26/10/2025
I had a friend who got a scholarship to study in Canada.
After three years abroad, he came back home looking fresh and full of life.
When I visited him, I joked,
“Chai, David! So na like this oyibo food go fat person? You don change finish oh.”
We both laughed.
He smiled and said,
“My brother, if you see the difference between here and Nigeria ehn, you go cry. Even the school system alone fit make you respect yourself.”
I was curious.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Then he told me something that shocked me.
“In my school in Canada, the lecturers don’t give students zero in exams. Even if you fail, they’ll still find a way to encourage you. The lowest you can get is 40%.”
I was confused.
“Wait, you mean even if a student writes rubbish, they’ll still give him 40?”
He nodded.
“Yes. So, one day I asked my lecturer the same question. I said, ‘Sir, why not give zero? Isn’t that the right punishment for failure?’
The man looked at me and said something that broke me.”
He said,
“Young man, no human deserves a zero.
How can I give a zero to a student who wakes up early every day to attend lectures?
How can I give a zero to someone who tries, even if he didn’t succeed?
How can I give a zero to a mind that is still learning?
Here, we don’t grade just answers. We grade effort. Because everyone deserves to feel seen.”
My friend paused for a while, his eyes almost teary.
He said, “Henry, that day I knew the real meaning of humanity. They don’t just teach books there, they teach value.”
His story took me back to my childhood.
I remembered how my primary school teacher used to give me zero and then announce it proudly in class.
She would draw big eyes and mouth on my script and tell my classmates to sing “Shame, shame, shame!” while she flogged me in front of everyone.
Back then, I thought it was normal.
But now I know many of us didn’t fail because we were dull.
We failed because the system made us believe we were nothing.
Sometimes, all a child needs is encouragement, not humiliation.
Zeros destroy confidence.
Mockery kills interest.
Once a student believes he’s useless, he stops trying.
Teachers, parents, lecturers let’s change this system.
Let’s stop tear
