School officials in Victoria, Australia, say it’s too hard for students to calculate equations using the constant 9.8 meters/second/second — the acceleration of gravity at Earth’s surface — so it’s changing the Year 12 physics exam for the Victorian Certificate of Education to use a rounded-off figure of 10 m/s/s.

Close enough?

No: “The difference could cause a parachutist or bungie jumper to plummet into the ground, or the launching of a rocket to fail,” say people who actually understand physics. After hearing the criticism the Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority announced that it would not penalize students who used the correct figure.

(Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia)

… No penalty for wrong answers, no penalty for the right ones — modern education in a nutshell.