by Barry Barrison
The education system in Victoria is failing young people. Unless this is reversed there will be serious long term impacts on not only the lives of these young people but on the whole of society. The Victorian system is based on the US model, a system which can be found in various forms in developed countries such as the US, Australia and the United Kingdom. Close examination of this system will reveal the effects of current government policies. At the moment the system still looks as if it is working but this illusion will soon cease.
Presently there are no academic standards required of students for them to be promoted to the next level of school. Over the last decade I have seen a distinct and continuous downward trend in the literacy and numeracy skills of children coming from primary to junior high school. These students have experienced no need to meet academic requirements in any of their primary years, leaving them ill equipped to face the rigors of higher education.
The Education Department states that students need to meet the academic requirements of the year level they are in before they qualify to move up to the next level. So how does this lack of standards exist? The answer lies in parent choice. A school does not presently have the authority to force a student to repeat a year. They can only recommend this to the parents, who have the final say. I have been teaching for thirteen years and I have only seen two students repeat a grade, with many hundreds who should have been kept down just drifting through to the next year based on their parents' wishes.
The result of this lack of backbone with regard to academic achievement is obvious. Year after year classes become more and more populated by students who are incapable of working at the required level. This results in an ever declining academic standard, as has been clearly seen in the last decade in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
How did this lax and unfortunate situation come to be? At present all the focus is on the individual student. Failing has become a dirty word, and when it is discussed the emphasis is on how a child will feel ostracized by her peers, socially disadvantaged, how her self-esteem will suffer and so on. There never seems to be any discussion about the impact of the failed child's promotion on the other students in the class.
Consider for example a class of Year 9 math students that contains two or three kids who may be as much as four years behind the expected level of ability. Apart from the poor behavior these children will display as a result of not being engaged in the subject, they are a drain on the teacher who is expected to provide them with work that targets their level of ability. Their behavior also distracts the students around them who are trying to work and contributes to the view that achievement is optional.
What needs to be considered is the effect the students who have been promoted without achievement have on the rest of the kids in the class. Clearly this can only be detrimental. Even though a child who is brought up with a strong work ethic will apply herself to the task regardless of her surroundings, a disruptive environment where learning is not seen as important will ultimately have a negative impact on even the best behaved child.
These factors receive little attention because well behaved children are generally not noticed because they are quiet and cooperative. It is a sad state of affairs that their welfare is discounted because of this. In all likelihood it is the well behaved children who will be making positive contributions to society in the future. They will hold jobs, pay taxes, raise children and so on. Should their futures be put in jeopardy because lazy children are allowed the same rewards as the hard working?
It is easy to point the finger of blame at the students and their teachers. However policy decisions regarding education are the realm of the government. It is high time the government took the hard and unpopular decision to make academic standards compulsory for promotion to the next level of schooling. This is the direct opposite of their current approach which is to take the path of least resistance at each turn and cave in on any difficult decision for fear they will become disliked and therefore not be re-elected. Such a change will only happen when parents of well behaved, hardworking children start demanding it.
Compulsory academic standards must be enforced in government schools. If it is not acceptable to keep children from moving up then realistic alternatives need to be provided. Until this happens the system will continue to punish and disadvantage those who want to learn.
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New Unique Article!
Title: Academic Standards Are Needed In Schools
Author: Barry Barrison
Email: roger@green-planet-solar-energy.com
Keywords: math,mathematics,education,academic success,home schooling,home schools,homeschooling,children,kids,homework,lessons,learning,refrence and education,family,home
Word Count: 818
Category: Homeschooling
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