This picture basically sums up why I hate our education system. However, compared to many Asian countries, Canada is already quite lax and accommodating to their students. In my opinion, though, it is not enough.
At the end of the day, there is still a curriculum we have to follow. Kids are still forced to learn certain subjects/things whether they like it or not.
In my opinion, school is important to a certain degree -learning how to read and write, basic mathematics, working together in groups, and so on. HOWEVER, I feel like the majority of the things we learn in school are irrelevant and useless to our lives once we get into the “real world”.
In addition, just because a child does poorly in school, it doesn’t mean he/she is stupid. Perhaps, he/she simply doesn’t care? The topic doesn’t interest him or her? It’s boring?
Or what if the child is just more hands on? Perhaps he/she may not be able to write down clear instructions on how to build a table, but can actually build one? What is more important?
I feel like those who are good in school = they are able to comprehend and retain a lot of information.
It is important to be able to comprehend and retain information, but that’s just one aspect of life. I hate how most people and companies mainly judge you by the papers you have.
When we are young, we are told to get good grades or else we would not be able to get into a good school; if we cannot get into a good school, we will not be able to get a good job!
We’re forced to do so much shit.
Honestly, forced learning doesn’t work. Most of my friends went to Chinese school but did not learn anything because although they were there physically, their minds were elsewhere.
My brother was an A student during Chinese school. On the day of Chinese school, he would wake up early in the morning to memorize all the words so that he could ace the spelling test; by nighttime, he would have forgotten everything. Yet, he would still have his “A” because he demonstrated that knowledge. However, in reality, his Chinese sucks. His grammar is all backwards. Haha.
Anyway, this is one of the reasons why I do not want to be a teacher. Although the Western education system is a lot more flexible compared to the traditional Asian way, I still don’t want to force kids to learn. And I don’t want to give anyone a “C” or a “D” because he/she could not meet the expectations set out by the Ministry of Education.
Unfortunately, in our society, those without a post-graduate education have very limited options if they want to get into the workforce. Therefore, despite how much I despise our system, I believe it is still necessary for your own good.
Therefore, if you have a child and you live in Canada, you should really consider opening an RESP (Registered Education Savings Plan) for him/her.
The Canadian government will give you a grant of $500 if you put in $2500 a year. (There is a maximum CESG of $7200)
Some may say, $500 is nothing. It can’t even pay for a single course. THAT IS TRUE, but it’s still a 20% guarantee return of $2500.
It’s definitely not enough but it’s still better than nothing. Plus, you may even get more if you are of a low income. You may even qualify for a 15% bonus (based on all your contributions*)
*Message me if you want more details.
Note: If you live in Ontario, this tuition article will be relevant to you. Students whose families who make $50000 or less will get free education in 2017 (or so they say, I hope they keep their promise)
And this is just funny. Haha. I just wanted to share.
P.S. If you like my content and would like to support me, you can donate to me!! Any amount is appreciated!
Grow with me 
What an astute article. School does have lots of pros and cons and can never teach you lessons that life will actually teach.
Thank you! Yes, I agree!!
I went to Chinese school, too! Haha. I was kind of a troublemaker, which was bad because my mom was the principal. Yeah, here in the US the public school system has many problems (I was a teacher for a brief moment of time). Basically, they’re still preparing kids to succeed in an economy that’s been irrelevant since the 1970s.
Wow, your mom was the principal!?!? Haha, you must have been under a lot of pressure. 😛
*Sigh* They really need to change the education system. =_=”. I have a teaching degree but I have no desire to force kids to learn.
I have issues with forced learning. I realized that my son is learning to memorize and that he retains more when he sees personal connections to stuff.
I think if the things we learned are relevant to our daily lives, it’s ok. I hope they do something about the Education system.
Interesting post Grace and twist you added. I agree with some points that you made about the education system and how some aspects fail to be relevant and useful in our lives.
Yet, the question that I ‘d like to pose to you is:
How would you change the education system that fails our children today? What would you do differently?
Thanks for your comment, Moo Moo! Lolll.. okay it feels weird to call you Moo Moo. But I don’t want to call you Mei Lai. 😛
I would let the child direct his learning. lol.. for example, I’d ask the child what are you curious about? What do YOU want to know? And let’s say the child says something like, “Why do Earthquakes exist?” Then, I would tell him to find out.
1. How are Earthquakes formed?
2. Where are they most likely to occur?
3. Are there any prevention that could be made?
And so on. In my opinion, that’s way better than forcing children to memorize geographic plates and stuff. If it’s something they’re interested in, they will actually go find out and retain more or most of it.
What about you? What would you do differently?
That type of curriculum exists in the early years already and the Ontario FDK is focused it on as well – especially with the promotion of inquiry-based learning, which is guided by the interests of children So by suggesting that the education system is only based on rote learning – is very flawed – because it is changing – not at the rate that most educators would like – but it is. And I don’t think you should blame the education system itself – but rather those who are developing the curriculum which focuses more on accountability and not student growth and learning – there’s more to consider when it comes to why the children are ‘forced to learn’ and why the system is so bad.
I know, but by highschool, we are mainly graded by paper exams, presentations, and participation. I know it’s changing and it is not all rote memorization, but if you have not memorized the content, you will not be able to get a good grade. And since getting into University is such a big deal, we kinda have to memorized in order to get that 80 or 90.
There is definitely less pressure in the early years but teachers also have pressure meeting the EQAO requirements.
But I do agree that those who are developing the curriculum is mostly at fault.
Memorize*
I’m not a fan of that Einstein quote. The main role of school is to provide people with skills that society actually needs. Yes that fish can’t climb a tree but is his ability to swim actually necessary for helping others in society. Say in this case climbing the tree is curing cancer and swimming is painting a picture.
I do think that the compulsory-level education system fails though. It should be teaching people how to acquire knowledge and critically assess it, rather than rote memorisation. Although some of the more basic stuff needs to be memorised as you can’t understand more complicated ideas without a solid foundation.
Funnily enough on that point, I have the opposite problem to most people. Everyone is always complaining about how they don’t use maths in their lives. Meanwhile I’m here, as a bio-technician. Every time I’m required to do any form of statistical analysis I cry because my maths skills are terrible and I didn’t learn it properly back in secondary school.
Thanks for your comment, Akkhun!! (Thanks for reading my posts aside from the translations, haha).
I know what you mean. I think it depends on the field you’re in. If you’re planning to be an engineer or a doctor, you have to memorize and be as precise as possible because there are lives at stake.
I do think a basic strong foundation is necessary, but there is way too much memorization involved.
And I’m sorry to hear about your math skills!! Hmm, but it’s never too late to start over or refresh your memory 😉
This is a very interesting article I would like to share: https://seanhamptoncole.wordpress.com/2014/04/06/why-i-hate-the-education-system-a-student-speaks-out/
A very astute insight from a young lady. I can’t fathom why I needed to learn a lot of things during school like geometry and algebra because until today, after 20 years in the workforce, I have no need for them.
Thank you for your comment! ❤ .