Government & Education PUBLIC SCHOOLS: the BETTER OPTION

One problem with education here in my (continental European) eyes seems to be related to the prevailing school system, where just about everything is different from what I was used to before living in the Philippines.
1. There's just two types of secondary education, either you attend "high school" or (the lucky few) go to "science high school".
It means that especially in Junior High you have students with a very wide range of talents together in one class room.
Inevitably that leads to the "average student" determining the (lack of) pace of instruction. Some in the bottom half of the class won't be able to keep up anyway, and most near the top of the class will be staring out the window most of the day. Untimely dropouts will thus occur at both ends of the spectrum, and most of those who graduate will be struggling in tertiary education.
2. Schools and teachers are downright negligent in communication with/to parents. Often a "teacher conference" for the afternoon is announced to students in the morning of the same day (which must be hell for parents who both work), School vacation schedules are also last minute (so don't make fixed travel plans) , and grades (report cards) are always late (my niece, whose 2nd year in college (NORSU) is supposed to start next week still didn't get her grades for the first year that ended in May).
3. In the grading system here being "considerate" seems to have taken priority over clarity. In my time in school you'd get a 9 or 9.5 if you were exceptional,
above 6 was adequate, and if you totally messed up you got a 1 or 2. Here I thought at first that they have grades up to 100, so I figured 75 must be pretty much ok, until I learned nobody gets under 70 lol. I still haven't figured it out completely.

 

You should never correct yourself.
You are denying your friends the pleasure of scolding you.
Jebuzz

 

But some enjoy punishing themselves - there is a name for it but will have to ask 'my friend' (or @jimeve - he knows all this stuff)

 

I could tell many stories of poor teaching in public schools - and again, I do this from knowledge and experience (of Western teaching as a student and teacher) and seeing the work of a High School student here.

But two spring to mind:

1. The science fermentation experiment I set up for my wife's daughter (age 14) as a school project, which lay in the corner of the classroom, untouched and never referred to by the teacher (the student claims), until one day it was thrown out.
2. The teacher who texted her class at 8 pm on a Sunday with a list of items required for the next morning! I contacted the teacher and asked why she was unable to tell them on Friday before they left school, instead of when the stores were closed. She was apologetic (of course) and her only excuse was that she had just prepared her lesson plan.

Add to the two above, my wife's daughter's scruffy workbooks never marked by most of the teachers and frequent closing of schools for sports events, and you have a system that is very poor.

My wife's daughter at age 17 was awarded Honours, but knows very little (I put her educational attainment at about age 11 for UK equivalent) and is not that bright - but she cleans the classroom, polishes the floor and puts the chairs up!

I note that schools seem very interested in 'show' - putting up glossy photos and banners outside the establishment - but not so good at achieving much of quality inside!

 

A culture of being afraid to challenge authority. Foreign aliens here will do it, but then are disliked.

 

It’s a cultural thing—obedience, respect, subservience—all had been part of our history when we were ruled by Spanish conquestadors for close to 400 years

 

Well, we have to allow your citizens to decide on that through proper channels. Not something for the aliens to meddle with.

 

Getting back on topic. I have dealt with education in the CA and I can tell you home schooling and online schooling both have their challenges. To a motivated child, home schooling can work pretty well, but many aren't that motivated, which means the parents need to intervene. I've also found the quality of the online schooling not as good or challenging as in classroom instruction. Home schooling essentially makes the parent the teacher. This can work good early in the education, but how many parents are up to calculus and physics. Many of which never took the subject or have long ago forgotten the subject. Teachers get paid a good salary as it's not something you can just take someone off the street to do the job. On the teacher side, online schooling seems to make their job a lot easier.