For starters, this is not to be directed at any teachers and is not any of their faults, rather this is about a system which currently seems to be our only way to provide education to everyone and ensure that there is at least a certain amount everyone must learn. There are other options, however many parents would not feel strongly towards them due to the uncertainty surrounding those options. Now back to the  topic at hand: the issues with this education system.

Time is an enormous issue with our current education system. Think about it. We wake up at 6 or 7 in the morning and come back at around 4;that’s nearly 10 hours of our lives for 5 days a week. On top of that we are told to get anywhere from 6-8 hours of sleep. Even if we only take 6 hours of sleep (the recommended is 8) that’s still 16 hours of our lives gone right there. That’s two thirds of the day – meaning we only have 8 hours to spare. 8 hours may look like quite a bit of time, however you need to fit time for homework from every class, keep up with extra curricular, spend time with your family, and also spend time for yourself. Now it’s getting a little overwhelming. Great, working under stress for most people makes things even worse so now life is just falling apart. Looking for ways to decrease the amount of time spent at school or the amount of homework and assignments could help solve these problems because perhaps school is taking a little too much time. Since this is my post, I would like to share a personal story – which I feel many of you may relate to. I come back from my two weeks of Winter Break only to get assaulted with assignments and homework – some my own fault – as well as test dates and these absurd things called an in-class final? I thought I was already writing my final in the last week of exam break, but it turns out they want us to be prepared two weeks prior to our actual exams. Now I feel the stress kicking in and I need to sacrifice sleep, time with my family, and time for myself just to ensure that I get everything done. I agree that some of that work was my own fault, but most of the work was given at that time. I lose multiple nights of sleep – which creates even larger problems because now I can’t pay attention during any of my classes or even my tests. I take a step back and look at what I’m doing: I’m in perpetual motion.

Another issue very prevalent is the idea of final exams. Many people already struggle with dealing with stress, so telling them that they better do good on this one test or else they may not get to pursue their passion in university does not really help. The issue here is that there is too much pressure on just one test – taken in only one type of manner which is answering questions and solving problems. There needs to be more ways to test someone on if they truly understand the topic. I suggest that instead of being tormented for 4-6 hours, you should allow them to take the test orally, practically, or written. This way everyone’s strengths are accounted for instead of just the people who can take a test well.

The last point I want to rant on is that the education system does not give a variety of ways to learn. It is not the teacher’s fault when they are given large textbooks to complete on a tight schedule, rather the curriculum itself needs a change. There needs to be a way to teach in more methods than just the basic lecture-note method. In Science and English this is less of a problem since labs and discussions have allowed for more methods to learn than the generic method. For math and social studies however, there is almost no other method of teaching meaning that either you need to adapt your way of learning to the method they are forced to use or you will struggle to keep up with the pace of the course.

All in all, the education system has its problems, but with time it will improve… hopefully. Thanks for reading this rant about this horrific disaster that is the education system.