With every indicator pointing to a sector in shambles, and academic performance of students alarmingly plummeting over the years, many stakeholders have increasingly laid the blame at the feet of the students. But in reality, should we hold these students, the victims of a failed system, accountable for the rot which has affected our education system? My definite answer is no. the school has been failing kids in several ways which require urgent attention. Here are some of the ways in which the school system has been failing students;
School promotes dogmatism/conditioned reasoning
One of the greatest disservices that school has done to students is its enduring penchant for limiting the creativity of students. Standardized tests give students the impression that there is only one correct answer to a problem and therefore they have to work towards a single answer which has been predetermined by the teacher. This means that the students, as a matter of necessity, must see from their teacher’s perspective.
They rely exclusively on what they have been taught and follow this exact pattern of work. The continuity of this system has gravely impacted the creativity of students as many do not see any need to think outside the box when they know that the brightest student, after all, is the one who can regurgitate what has been taught in class during exams.
Schools employ obsolete methods to teach
Due to the now archaic and outdated methods employed in imparting knowledge, kids now find school to be a boring and tedious necessity. Some of the courses which schools offer are now irrelevant in this digital world of ours. Hence school is not necessarily serving its purpose of preparing kids for the future.
Schooling environment is hostile
The school does not promote teamwork among school children. They are discouraged from helping themselves out academically but are rather made to see their colleagues as rivals and competitors, rather than as friends. Hence, they grow up lacking the skills needed for cooperation and teamwork.
In addition to this, it is rather perplexing to know that some states legalize the meting out of corporate punishments to keep students in line. Students are trained to be fearful and submissive.
School does not acknowledge differences in students
A class usually has about 30 students. These students, with different rates of assimilation and academic capabilities, are being taught the same thing at the same rate without due consideration to assimilation and brilliance. The clever ones understand the concept quickly and become uninterested when the teacher stays too long on that topic, while others in the class would not have grasped the topic by the time the teacher moves on to another topic. A conflict of interest would arise should the teacher try to pay attention to this disparity in the rate of assimilation.
Conclusion
The points highlighted here are just but a few of the hydra-faced challenges facing kids in school. The school has been systematically letting students down by failing to teach them the requisite skills needed to navigate this competitive world of ours. It is therefore, and as a matter of urgency, necessary for the school system to be revamped so as to enable it to breed great future leaders for our country.
