School’s Aren’t Outdated, But Their Methods Are Antiquated
- May Sleiman Haidar
- Nov 12, 2016
- 2 min read
You often hear people, mostly parents, complaining about how the quality of education has declined over the years. They felt that it was much better in the past and that even teachers’ concern for the students has diminished.
Well, this situation is not only applicable for education, but unfortunately it also applies to every social and governmental institution, and it’s not restricted to Lebanon. They all appear damaged to the public. When in fact, it is our society that has quickly evolved with the advances in sciences and technology, leaving those institutions behind. Thus, the previously mentioned institutions were actually created for a different society and ultimately no longer work well for today’s generation. Even people who were diligent two decades ago would be considered incompetent in today’s world.
Two decades ago, illiterate people could find jobs that paid enough to support a family, in places like factories and sweat shops. Now, jobs like those are instinct. They were replaced by higher skilled jobs that are barely sufficient to take care of one person’s living expenses rather than a whole family. Even jobs that didn’t require a degree, now do. Therefore, schools aren’t the problem, but the educational system is. It does not meet our society’s needs.
The country has recognized that education is troubled, particularly in the Lebanese public sector. Among the public’s highest priorities is improving schools. Unfortunately, politicians often seek quick fixes that look good on TV but are just temporary rather than a radical solution.
Truth is, recruiting under educated teachers will not make our schools better. We must be willing to experiment with new leadership, new schools, new management, and new forms of teacher preparation.
We know what it will take to redesign our schools. It requires new curricula and excellent staff. We need clear and up to date standards for what all students are expected to learn and methods to evaluate if they’ve achieved those standards. This requires professional development for the current teaching force and an excellent education for new teachers and administrators, which will give them mastery both in their subject area and teaching methods, curriculum design, evaluation, child development, learning styles and classroom management. We won't get this by closing education schools. We can get it by strengthening weak schools and expanding excellent ones.
We need to take account for our public schools and the professionals who staff them. At the moment, the only people being held accountable for the quality of education are our children. Meanwhile, you can hire certified professional tutors to compensate for the schools’ incompetence.
APEC provides you with a variety of certified affordable private tutors for you to choose from.
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