One question showed 3 pairs of ducks facing each other and the question
asking how many ducks were there. What was confusing was that at the
answer column, after a space for the answer was a picture of a duck
facing one side. Without this picture, the answer was obvious, 6 ducks.
But with the picture of a duck added, and facing one side, a child could
read the question as asking how many ducks were facing the same
direction as the picture next to the answer. The child put down 3 and
was marked wrong.
Another question was a picture of 9 dogs in various positions and the
question asked how many dogs were there. Same problem, answer should be
9. But at the answer column, after the space to put the answer was a
picture of a dog lying in a particular position. And only one of the 9
dogs was lying in that position. The child's answer was 1 and was marked
wrong.
Who was right and who was wrong? An average child would have given the
answers that an average teacher wanted, 6 ducks and 9 dogs. An above
average child would give the wrong answers as the child above, to an
average thinking teacher. Whose fault is this? The painful thing is that
the child would have gone bonkers trying to figure out why her answers
were wrong, all because of unintelligent teachers and unintelligent
questions.
Is this the reason why our education system is producing duds that
cannot think outside the exam questions and could only produce
unintelligent answers and thus found wanting when applying for jobs or
for top positions in an organisation? We pay millions and millions for
good teachers and good education system but the above situation is
appalling. Something is very seriously wrong in this robotic fashion of
teaching.
And I read in the papers that the school system is going to teach the
child mental health and in the same breath acknowledging that teachers
that have proper training on mental health would not be qualified to
offer professional support to troubled children. If teachers after being
properly trained may be found wanting, how much would the children
learn from such classes? There are so many things that our children are
expected to learn from their school curriculum that wanted to turn them
into superman and superwoman but ended turning out duds and people
knowing a bit of nothing in everything.
If this is the way the schools are being made to do, I would suggest a
few more important topics to prepare the children other than mental
illness, disappointments and accepting failures as part of their life
after going through our very expensive and confusing education system.
Let them know that they are not supposed to be the best in their studies
as that would hurt the feelings of less academically inclined children.
Let them know that being good academically is nothing to be proud off.
If they are good academically they must hide in the closets and not to
talk about it. Academically smart children are frown upon by society as
they made others looked bad.
And prepare them to accept low paying jobs, to be underemployed, to
willingly take on part time jobs, and not to feel bad that they cannot
get a job and not to be angry with foreigners that went through half
baked education system that did not teach them all the good things in
our education system but taking all the good jobs.
The schools must tell the children that despite being taught so many
things and paying so much for it, even travelling overseas to understand
other people, they would not get the good jobs and may end up jobless.
The good jobs would go to foreigners that paid a pittance for their
makeshift education, did not go on exchange programme, but just teaching
them the 3 Rs and what a basic school education is meant to teach.
Yes, the school can teach everything, from brushing the teeth, how to
take a shower, how to go dating, how to use condoms etc etc. The
question is what are schools meant for in the first place. With every
change of minister for education, the roles of the schools have changing
and deviating from its original mission. Let's get back to first
principles and let the schools do what they should be doing and not all
the nonsense that are good to have, that are desired by a few parents or
policy makers, things that parents should be teaching them.
What do you think? Is it the problem of our education system or confused
policy makers trying to do things beyond their field of expertise, not
trained in education and telling the teachers what to do? Oh, the above
teacher or teachers setting and marking those questions are exceptions
to the rule despite being paid top dollars as the best teachers money
can buy. We have many good teachers, just let them teach what the
schools should be teaching. Non teaching professionals should meddle
less with the teaching professions.