Problems with our schooling system

​All of us have been part of the school system at one point or another in our lives. We have all noticed that most of this might have been a waste of our time. The truth is the traditional educational system has been long outdated and ineffective, but it is still widely being used on a global scale. I just wanted to take the time and write my side of this. 

We send our children to school to prepare them for the ‘real’ world. But our world is constantly changing and fast, leaving our schooling system which has been around since the industrial age in the dirt. This is because the school system which is still in place all over the globe is merely there to produce factory workers. This brings up a question, does the current school system prepare students for the future, or for the past?

The world has changed and a century ago the schooling system made sense, classes are split like batches, sit in neat rows, lives are governed by bells, having a short lunch break and students are made to follow instructions all day. But the world has progressed and we now need people who think creatively, innovatively, critically and independently, with the ability to connect, communicate their ideas and collaborate with others.

Each and every one of us is different, there are no two people whose brains are exactly the same. So why do we still treat students like one size fits all. If doctors worked with the same method, and prescribed all of his patients the same dose of the same medicine the results would be tragic. 

 “Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by it’s ability to climb a tree, it will live it’s whole life believing that it is stupid” Albert Einstein

​Let’s not forget the teachers, who have the most important job on the planet yet they are underpaid. Teachers should earn just as much as healthcare professionals and doctors, because they can save someone’s life as much as a doctor can. A heart surgeon would repair a young boy’s your heart in surgery but a great teacher has the ability to reach the heart of that boy and allow him to truly live. Teachers are often blamed, but they are not the problem. They work in a system developed by policy makers who probably have never thought a day in their lives. 

I don’t have much faith in the school system but I do have faith in people. If we can customize cars, healthcare and Facebook pages, then let’s do the same for education. This is not something impossible. Look at the system used in Finland. Their curriculum is fitted for the modern age student and their schooling system which focuses on collaboration instead of competition. Their educational system outperforms any other educational system in any country of the world. So I hope other countries follow suit and make a change for the better, because even though students only make up a small percentage of our current population they are totally a 100% of our future.