Did we? Could we? Would we?

Two days ago I got back my Danish quiz. Despite some spelling mistakes, I got full mark because, apparently, the teacher would grant me marks as long as I got what the marking scheme requires. Say, for example, in writing the sentence "I would like a chicken sandwich", it doesn't matter if I spell "would" wrongly (trust me, that is possible in Danish), but you don't get any mark if you do not put down "chicken".

Marking scheme - I felt almost nostalgic when I heard my teacher saying that.

Another guy in my class just could not understand why he did not get any mark for a grammatically correct sentence (well, he probably wrote "I would like a sandwich" in correct grammar but without "chicken") ; that is not surprising, since he grew up receiving American education and values.

"Why do I not get any mark for this? Isn't the grammar correct?"
"Yes, your grammar is correct, but you didn't put down 'chicken' in there, therefore I cannot give you mark for it"
"Why?"
"Because the marking scheme said so, and I have to follow the marking scheme so that I am assessing you guys just as teachers from other classes do to their students."
"Why is the marking scheme set in that way?"
"..."

Exactly - Why? Why chicken? Why not sandwich? Why are we not rewarded for writing a correct Danish sentence - isn't that the point of us going to a Danish class? This just reminds me of those times back in the CE days, when we did tests or quiz instead of eating lunch properly, and got back test papers with a lot of writings on it but very few marks given by the teacher; eventually we gave up on textbooks or notes and studied marking schemes instead.

We probably had asked why among ourselves during recess; we could have asked why like the American student who challenged the Danish teacher; we would have asked why more often if it could make a difference. I guess the biggest failure of the education system in HK is revealed in how the word "why" simply stops coming up in our minds after being in school for a while.