Ministry of Edumacation

Hello! A lot of people have come up to me regarding the post I made this Monday, saying that they couldn't see it on my blog.. Because it was a draft that I made in February, for some reason, it ended up in the February column. So, if you want to see it, go on to the blog index, go under February and click on the one titled, "Procrastination". Some of you might of seen it, if not, it's there if you want to read it.

I know that usually I do humorous stuff. Usually my posts are about me complaining about something. This one is going to be serious, but yes, it's me complaining about something. Please read, as this is something that all students in middle and high school should read.

The Canada Ministry of Education. The people who make up this group are the people responsible for the education of the kids in the country. They make up the curriculum and what methods have to be taught. They give the illusion that they truly do care about our education and that all they want is a bright future for us. They want to make us learn and grow as people. They want to make school an enjoyable environment. Well, at least that's what their original intentions were. Now, I don't know many people who are truly enjoying the curriculum being currently taught. I am one of those people. Our text books are almost 20 years old. And those are considered new! The methods used and the lessons are so outdated, many of the expressions and examples aren't fully comprehendible to todays students. Some of the information isn't even correct! Do you know why the text books are never renewed? It's because the Government of Canada finds it more suiting to spend billions of dollars on Olympic parties and ponchos that can be handed out to 10,000+ people just to get into the "Olympic Spirit".

When I say the information is inaccurate, I 'm not kidding. According to the Social Studies text books used, Australia is a continent, and the theories used in the science text books are so old. I don't understand why the text books aren't updated every 5 years, and instead of adding all these unnecessary pages and graphs and maps condense it so they can fit into a smaller book and make them paperback instead of hardback to make it cheaper. Or even better, just make the text books an online program that's updated every 5 years, that schools have to pay to install. It would be expensive to create, but think about it, what's more expensive? To produce thousands, maybe even millions of text books to give to students which they might lose, or to create a website, which could give more job opportunities. And, so that students wouldn't have to be on the computer all the time, teachers could simply print off the sheet, or write the questions they want the students to complete on the board for them to write down on a separate piece of paper. Does this make sense to you? It does to me.

Now, so that the government can see the progress of the students, they ask the kids to take a test. The most hated one is FSA. This is one of the only test the government will look at. The test consists of questions regarding basic fundamental skills. This test takes our fundamental skills and turns them into an asset for competition. FSA really is a competition! They mark you on the stuff you've known since you we're little, and make you feel awful about your grade. You're not allowed to study and chances, are, because the government doesn't know how the students were being taught, the test is written in a way you don't understand. The FSA's are written in a way that only people who think with the left part of their brain. People who think with the left part of their brain think very logically and methodically. Most people don't do well on FSA's because it's so stressful and long, they can't ask teachers for help because the teachers don't know the test, and the most frustrating reason is, that it's the same test for everyone no matter what culture.

Imagine, living in Nunavut, walking to school in the snow, having no malls or big chain restaurants anywhere near you. At school, you're asked to take a test so the government can rank which schools are the best. Your teacher says the test is only the basic subjects. You start the tests, on the computer. You struggle to figure how to use the computer, because you've never really used one for a long period of time. You accidently click the wrong answer and you don't know how to go back and correct it! Then, a question about an escalator comes up. What's an escalator??? You don't understand any of these questions! The methods they ask you to demonstrate are more complicated then the question itself! You try your best to answer the questions, feeling absolutely stressed out and awful, only to receive your mark on the test, which makes you feel so much worse!

That's yet another reason why FSA's are not a good idea.

In my opinions, we should be able to work at our own pace. To a certain extent. For example, maybe a certain amount of work is due in 2 weeks. Students can decide what order they want to work in, how they want to space it out (whether they work really really really hard for 4 days and finish it all, or space it out and work consistently and have it finished in 2 weeks) that way, students don't feel the competition of who understands what, because they have the time to ask questions and read about it.

I know that not all of you agree with this blog, but anyway, I want every single person who read this to share you opinion. This is a very general post, more of a conversation started then anything else. SO, do you agree? If so, any other thought? Do you disagree, tell me why. Just share your opinion. Don't hate on people and don't get into a comment war. If any comments are posted that I think are the equivalent of hating on people, I'll delete them :):):):)

So, well, I don't really have anything in my hand right now, so empty-handed, I leave, yearning for the next post. If there is one, lol.