This just in: 12 plus 8 equals 4

By The Nation

 

 

If Joy picked 12 mangoes and Joe picked eight more mangoes more than she did, how many mangoes did Joe pick?

 

Conventional wisdom would suggest the answer is “20”, but for one first-grade math teacher somewhere in Thailand, the correct calculation is four.

 

A woman posting on Facebook on Tuesday as Phuan Pennapa wanted to know how her niece’s teacher could find fault with such a straightforward answer, on which the aunt even provided a little coaching.

 

The Facebook post – with a picture of the homework showing the niece’s response of “12+8=20”, and the teacher’s “X” mark and “correct” answer of “4” – quickly drew 5,000 reactions and was shared more than 10,000 times.

 

And that wasn’t all. The same homework assignment came back with “16+4=20” and “11+7=18” both also marked as incorrect.

 

The teacher tallied up the first sum as 12, and the second as 4 again.

 

The consensus among Facebook users was that the student’s answers were correct and the teacher’s brain function was not.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30354705

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-09-18

 

 

 

Maybe the teacher is dyslexic and was seeing the + sign as a - sign either way should not be teaching anything anywhere .

With teachers of that calibre there is absolutely no hope for this country ever moving forward. 

16 minutes ago, keith101 said:

Maybe the teacher is dyslexic and was seeing the + sign as a - sign either way should not be teaching anything anywhere .

Do not QUESTION

You will be EXTERMINATED.

 

Joy picks 12 mangoes, Joe picks 8 mangoes and 16 mangoes go to the government. That equals 4 mangoes picked by Joy and Joe.

Edited September 18, 20187 yr by Grossman

39 minutes ago, webfact said:

The consensus among Facebook users was that the student’s answers were correct and the teacher’s brain function was not.

This might give a clue as to why only 16.5% of Thai workers are qualified to do the job they employed to do; including many teachers it seems.

Only the other day they talked of making Thailand a hub of cosmic science research.

If it wasn't such a serious matter it would make great comedy.

The teacher deserves an award!

 

Well, what can you say....

 

Wish my bird was this useless at maths when it comes to extracting dosh offa me ..

Edited September 18, 20187 yr by Justgrazing
Sp

Yes, it's good to have a laugh but, seriously, how should the PTB deal with a Maths teacher who evidently can't do maths? Make the sorry soul do question-book homework for a month, with the threat of the sack on the first wrong answer? That might make him/her divert his/her attention from the TV soap and come to terms with the fact that, largely thanks to such crap teaching, Thailand ranks #47 out of 76 nations in Maths skills. A hell of a problem for somebody, though.

But in the text they write first person have 12.. second person give back 8.. so the teacher is correct. But he also should mark with red that the plus is incorrect.

12-8 is 4

2 hours ago, HampiK said:

But in the text they write first person have 12.. second person give back 8.. so the teacher is correct. But he also should mark with red that the plus is incorrect.

12-8 is 4

That's not what it says in English, there's no mentione of giving back anything.

Would explain why they use calculators for everything, even a 95 baht item and 100 baht given to calc the change.

The mania of counting notes 5 times before giving or depositing in the till.?

1 minute ago, CharlieH said:

Would explain why they use calculators for everything, even a 95 baht item and 100 baht given to calc the change.

The mania of counting notes 5 times before giving or depositing in the till.?

I bought something for 45 Baht recently and handed over 100 Baht and he rang that up on the till 

I then noticed that I had a 50 Baht note , so, I took the 100 Baht back and gave him the 50 Baht.

    He called the supervisor over to get the transaction cancelled on the till .

I took the 50 Baht back and gave him back the 100 Baht and he happily gave me 55 Baht change

The answers are correct after you have factored in the tea money.

6 hours ago, Grossman said:

 

Joy picks 12 mangoes, Joe picks 8 mangoes and 16 mangoes go to the government. That equals 4 mangoes picked by Joy and Joe.

Problem is they're  all bananas!

A sad state of affairs. 

Just a thought but........how do you know that the kid didnt change the minus into a plus AFTER the marking? because the kid got em all wrong !

3 hours ago, sanemax said:

I bought something for 45 Baht recently and handed over 100 Baht and he rang that up on the till 

I then noticed that I had a 50 Baht note , so, I took the 100 Baht back and gave him the 50 Baht.

    He called the supervisor over to get the transaction cancelled on the till .

I took the 50 Baht back and gave him back the 100 Baht and he happily gave me 55 Baht change

My wife has told me to stop giving say 1005 baht for an item costing 505 baht, expecting to get a 500 baht note in change. The confusion it causes is hysterical, and a sad indictment of Thai counting skills. Last week I bought 2 bottles of 10 baht each water, the young lady, who I had apparently awoken from her slumber behind the counter, diligently keyed into her calculator the required figures, and then re-keyed to double check.

4 hours ago, CharlieH said:

Would explain why they use calculators for everything, even a 95 baht item and 100 baht given to calc the change.

The mania of counting notes 5 times before giving or depositing in the till.?

Or in my bank, teller sees 1,000Baht on the deposit slip as I hand her 1,000Baht cash.

She then keys in 1,000 on her calculator with printer, then deducts 1,000.

 

Answer on the little print-out from the calculator is '  0  ', yes all seems correct.

 

She processes the deposit slip through her computer then staples the little print-out from her calculator onto the corner of the bank deposit slip.

 

She's pleased.

 

3 hours ago, stereolab said:

My wife has told me to stop giving say 1005 baht for an item costing 505 baht, expecting to get a 500 baht note in change. The confusion it causes is hysterical, and a sad indictment of Thai counting skills. Last week I bought 2 bottles of 10 baht each water, the young lady, who I had apparently awoken from her slumber behind the counter, diligently keyed into her calculator the required figures, and then re-keyed to double check.

LOL... I've given up going that. The confusion it causes simply isn't worth it... LOL 

 

8 hours ago, scorecard said:

Or in my bank, teller sees 1,000Baht on the deposit slip as I hand her 1,000Baht cash.

She then keys in 1,000 on her calculator with printer, then deducts 1,000.

 

Answer on the little print-out from the calculator is '  0  ', yes all seems correct.

 

She processes the deposit slip through her computer then staples the little print-out from her calculator onto the corner of the bank deposit slip.

 

She's pleased.

 

It would not be a surprise to me if this was a requirement of the bank's procedure. Silly, but understandable.

I try not to slag off TH teachers too much because in OZ they are accepting those that have barely passed high school into uni teaching degrees, mostly because nobody else want to go into teaching.

Australia's student scores continue to fall in world rankings.

12+8=8

On the morning clock ?

17 hours ago, Ossy said:

Yes, it's good to have a laugh but, seriously, how should the PTB deal with a Maths teacher who evidently can't do maths? Make the sorry soul do question-book homework for a month, with the threat of the sack on the first wrong answer? That might make him/her divert his/her attention from the TV soap and come to terms with the fact that, largely thanks to such crap teaching, Thailand ranks #47 out of 76 nations in Maths skills. A hell of a problem for somebody, though.

Try the teacher with this one.

3 guys on fishing trip book a room in a hotel.

Receptionist charges then 30 dollars. Each hands over 10.

Later, the manager realises thats wrong and should have been 25 dollars and gives one of then 5 dollars. He decides to tell the other two they get discount of a dollar each so gives each a dollar back. ( each pays 10 and gets 1 back )

Each one has now paid 9 dollars = 27 dollars but the third has two dollars. 27 +2 = 29.

Where did the other dollar go?

13 hours ago, ukrules said:

That's not what it says in English, there's no mentione of giving back anything.

Where do the pictures say something in English?  The only thing I can read and understand are the sums written in numerals and the kid wrote those in themselves?

Look at the entrance exams for major universities, review any school's tests and assignments and you will find hundreds and hundreds of these examples. The big question is why allow those responsible to continue in positions of influence and power?

I am reliably informed by someone of far greater intellect and language skills than me that the basis of the questions states the original person has 12 mangoes and someone else has 8 more mangoes more than them.  The question then asks how many mangoes does the second person have.

Clearly the teacher didn't use a calculator.