How to Fix the Educational System

How to Fix the Educational System

It is very difficult to write about how to fix the educational system because:

1. Many people don’t understand that there is a problem with the system.
2. There is hardly anything I can do other than write about it.

There is also the idea that the problem with the educational system is a money problem. I totally disagree. Every year, more money seems to be spent on the system yet, there is no major improvement.

In fact, I would rather argue that we are facing a money problem because we are largely focused on an inefficient system. When you want to force compliance and obedience to get kids to grow up in a certain way, you have to spend lots of money.

Indoctrination is not cheap at all. It is also impossible to successfully indoctrinate. Yet, the power of indoctrination is seen in that those who fail to be indoctrinated, usually a large chunk, are regarded as failures while those who are indoctrinated are rewarded with a pseudo-life

However, here are some points on how to fix the educational system.

1. No Homeworks: Kids don’t learn with homework. They mostly do it because their parents asked for it or because they don’t want to be punished the next day. Kids are naturally curious if given freedom. Unfortunately, this freedom is what the school has robbed kids of.
2. No Long Hours of Teaching: nobody learns for 8 hours. Talk more about learning things you don’t enjoy. At most, learning should be about 20 hours per week which is about 4 hours per day. Learning at a stretch is almost a waste of time. As humans, we learn firstly, in a short burst of time, and from different sources and ways. If we are courageous to nurture kids’ curiosity, we will raise better kids.
3. No Standardized Test: testing students’ ability by a test is one of the biggest problems with the system. How the same test is the basis, we judge many other students is baffling. When we see students as individuals and treat them as such, we’d realize the futility of a test. Students will know a thing if they enjoy it and if you give them all the necessary support they need as an individual rather than as part of a class. More so, tests should be diagnostic, not judgemental.

There are many other examples of how to fix the educational system, but I’d mention them in future articles. Until then, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

to be continued…