With the development of capitalism, which greatly influenced human way of thinking and determined their life strategy, there appeared an idea that only those people succeed in life which have a good education. There is also an opinion that qualified education begins from the first day of school. However, numeral researches and practice of life reveal that diplomas which students get in a high-school are of no importance as many of the young people do not have any basic knowledge they need to have. Thus, this essay is devoted to the reflection whether the modern education system is of such low quality that twelve years spent in a school are just a waste of time?
In the article “In Praise of the F Word” it is highlighted that thousands of students which graduate from high-school each year receive worthless diplomas. “Their validity will be questioned only when their employers discover that these graduates are semiliterate” (The Daily Beast). This idea sounds reasonable enough because high-school diploma is not a sign of final point of education. Every person continues studying till the end of one’s life. Indeed, life process is a curious thing: firstly, it sets an examination and then gives lessons. From my personal experience I can say that before entering the college I tried to find a job right after graduating a high-school. I tried to apply for a position of volunteer in a bank. However, I failed as my knowledge in English was not enough to write grammatically correct.
The question of the appropriate knowledge level in young people seems to be problematic due to the fact that education system is organized in a way that teachers are not interested in the marks of their students. Moreover, they do not worry about the actual knowledge students possess after graduating the high-school. I remember a story of one young teacher who came to school to work. As she did not have any teaching experience, she had a mentor who had to survey her classes and give advice. Full of energy and enthusiasm the young lady had several classes trying to spark the interest in all students and put them good marks. However, she was astounded by the advice of her mentor who told not to strain every sinew as it is impossible to teach everyone. Good result of two or three students from the whole group is sufficient.
Such life experience proves that education system is irrational as it does not fulfill its main function: to educate young people and provide them a chance to have successful path in life. I became convinced in this fact by my own experience. I am going to college and the procedure of applying for students implies getting good grades in Math, Reading and English. Unfortunately, I can not enroll in general studies until I complete these prerequisites classes Math 83, Reading 95, and English 100. It goes without saying that these subjects were taught in high school and supposedly they should have been taught in a way I would be able to get good knowledge and pass the exam to the college. In actual practice now I have to waste one semester for these classes. Moreover, I have to pay tuition for the semester in these classes while education is supposed to be free for everyone. If I refuse I will not get credit hour in these classes for my bachelor degree. I cannot say that I am a lazy person or studying is too hard for me. At the mean time I am afraid that my first step towards career and successful life can become the last one.
In order to change the negative situation in education system, the teacher mentioned in the article “In Praise of the F Word” proposes the practice of “flunking” students by providing the evidence that such method motivates students to restart studying. However, this approach cannot be applied as unique one because every student is a personality with individual point of view stipulated by numerous social and psychological circumstances. Thus, the method which is motivating for one student can kill the desire to study in another one. Otherwise, the result would be like in a joke when a student willing to have a good grade came to her professor, closed the door in his cabinet, kneeled down and promised in a whisper to do anything to pass the test. The professor looked at her and whispered that if she was ready to do anything, she should begin studying.
I would like to highlight that there exists a gap between these students who study hard but stayed unnoticed and those ones who pass just because they are cute or they have hard life. I have a friend from not a rich family who always had a desire to study. He wanted to enter the University, get good education and make a career. However, he was not enrolled to University due to the lack of money which was as important as personal knowledge. Due to the fact that his family was not able to pay for him, he went to army which was ready to pay for his education according to the contract. While his serving at the US Marine Corps he obtained a contusion of the level ear. That was his payment for god education in spite of his good knowledge.
Summarizing all the said above, it should be pointed out that in spite of the fact that the modern education system is aimed to be improved, it is rational to say that twelve years spent at school are the waste of time. The diplomas are the meaningful papers which then are checked whether by employers or by professors of college or university. Unfortunately, there is a huge gap between the students who are willing to study but are not able to do it because of lack of money and those ones who study because they have money but are not able to become successful because of lack of knowledge. It should be changed otherwise there will be no democracy in education.
