The education system and its students are in deep trouble, here’s exactly why. By: Shubhansi (Suhani) 11.3
An artistic image of a student during an exam
The education system has been in crisis, even before Covid was around. There has always been a lack of change, lack of freedom and a lack of passion. In a world that’s advancing quickly and brimming with change, it is dangerous that the foundation of learning is not. The idea of school was constructed centuries ago; many things have advanced since then such as computers, phones and cars. However, the basic principle of school has stayed the same: Tables in rows, silence and a board in front of the class. While it is true that some schools have advanced forward and have dropped majority of these principals, there are still enough schools around the globe with poor education systems to make it a major problem. Yet still, nothing is being done to change this.
So, what exactly is the root of this problem? People, often, find it easy to blame teachers but in reality the problem is with the exam board itself. I am sure you have noticed that as you go up the school, students seem to lose passion and enthusiasm. Generally, Primary school students seem more determined than IGCSE students. So why do younger student appear more vibrant? Simply because schools have more control over their learning at that time. For example, in Regents, teachers try hard to make learning entertaining and authentic in the earlier years by introducing new challenges, technology and opportunities to be creative. They give room for students to develop their own interests and hone into their inventive side. However the trouble comes in when the exam board becomes involved, in IGCSE. Exam boards tend to focus too much on grades and forcing content into students minds rather than creating students with high emotional/social intelligence and hobbies. It restricts teachers from teaching the way that is most beneficial for students, making it increasingly difficult for them to develop students, not only in terms of intelligence but as human beings.
The current education system and exam board was constructed during the industrial age and therefore has industrial values, focusing more on memorization, obedience and control. In fact these values can be seen in different schools across the globe. Example: When the bell rings students must go to class. They cannot interact with others or do anything unless instructed. They must follow orders: Open this page and answer this question. Obviously, nowadays schools have become more lenient, but not all schools have. The qualities mentioned earlier are similar to how robots behave; it was these values needed for mass production in the industrial age. Not anymore. These values promote very little growth, creating students that are made to be followers. In the current world, people cannot go far by simply following instructions and retaining facts. It is essential to be inventive, resilient and creative. In order to develop further, students need more communication and social skills, but the exam board is preventing that. Instead, it creates batches of students that are meant to function similarly, with little room for uniqueness. This is limiting to the progress and advancements humanity could make as a whole, if the exam board allowed more room for students to explore life and grow as individuals. It is reasons like these that new systems have been developed, such as IB or Round Square ideals. They have been developed to focus on the aspects of us that make us human such as diversity, service, creativity and compassion as well as developing students intellectually. But yet again, not every school across the world is like this.
Another issue is the way students are taught. Studies show that cheating on tests among high schoolers has risen dramatically over the past 50 years. Students don’t cheat because they are lazy. It’s because in this current educational system, people value grades over actual knowledge. It is no longer about learning, but about what grade students get on their reports. Therefore, any student is tempted to cheat in order to get better grades. This leads to inauthentic learning such as memorizing rather than actually understanding the concept of what they are learning. Many students even spend time memorizing mark schemes, rather than trying to truly understand the course. Why? Because, despite understanding the content, they still get answers incorrect due to mark schemes. There are infinite ways people can communicate ideas but mark schemes promote the idea that students need to think and answer the same way, word for word. The tests and teaching methods encouraged by this current exam board is preventing the creation of students who think outside the box and preventing the growth of intelligence among students.
Cost. Cost, is a major factor that is affecting children’s access to education. Many children are unable to access education due to its high expenses. 72 million children across the world are unschooled because of poverty. Children are not getting equal rights to education due to difference in privilege worldwide. But it does not stop at poverty. Even the privileged have trouble affording higher and more pristine education. In the United States, 42.9 million citizens owe in total 1.59 trillion dollars of student debt. Money is becoming a limiting factor to education, even if you can access higher education you tend to get left with tons of debt at the end. In this world, education is a bridge that links to success and a higher quality of life in the future, but some children are neglected this opportunity due to their family's economic status. Education needs to become more accessible and money should not be a determining factor for children’s rights.
People can argue that traditional schooling systems are archaic, but, there is also the argument that, because schools are trying to prepare their children for university, that sense of antiquated learning is necessary. Universities are known for being tough, and the worlds of professions are even tougher especially now days, which is partially why exam boards choose to do things the way they do. However this causes no need for alarm, do not panic. There are flickers of hope, enough to kindle a bigger change. In every aspect I have critiqued here, there has also been growth. Recently, teachers have been exploring many different aspects of teaching and what type of interactions their students learn from and enjoy the most. Even at this school you can see: MIT/STEAM week, Outdoor Ed, Kahoot’s, physical/virtual activities and many more things that students can learn authentically through. The rules have also become more flexible, allowing individuality to shine through the student body and allowing students to feel a sense of freedom. The school system has recently become more accepting of arts and creative aspects of the mind, allowing students to pursue their true passions. As for the cost? Some schools around the world, public and private, have become free or of minimal cost. So, let this serve as a gentle reminder that despite all the growing we have yet to do, we can still appreciate and acknowledge the growing we have done.
The Modern education system, evidentially, still has a lot of modernizing left to do especially involving the exam board, but things are changing. In large, worldwide systems like the education system, it can take 2/3 generations to really grasp the progress we have made. But rather than playing the blame game, we can choose to improve the way we learn. Communicate with each other and your teachers and really talk about what and how you would like them to teach. If exam boards can’t budge we can still weave our way around and make the best of the situation. Nonetheless, it is still important that we voice our opinions to bring change about the exam board, and now is a good chance. This pandemic caused the education system to go into a deeper crisis, so we should take this opportunity to reboot. Take it as a wakeup call and do better for the future of this world. Together, let’s make learning liberating and likeable again.
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