The State of Education

[Debbiedle]

I found this article to be downright scary at first....then I got thinking.....no time to post right now, but maybe you would like to read it so long.

http://www.cbn.co.za/viewg.php?id=1631

It starts...

At least the economy is still doing great, isn't it? With government services collapsing in incompetence and corruption, our expanding economy remains the success story that keeps us optimistic about our future in sunny South Africa. Not so?

Here's the catch. Our economy will remain competitive only as long as our people are competitive. As long as our entrepreneurs and executives, our accountants and engineers are as bright and brainy as those who are competing with us for orders and profits in the markets of the world. And that means our education system has to produce well-trained graduates and school-leavers.

[Dave A]

....then I got thinking.....

After reading that article, this I've got to hear.

[Debbiedle]

Okay, this report is basically saying that we are producing graduates that cannot even read or write. At the very least our matrics are barely at a grade 9 level.

Is it possible that we are testing skills that are no longer required in this digital age?

I recall really battling to write with a fountain pen in Grade 3 and the teacher telling me not to sweat it as fountain pens were being made redundant the following year anyway. I also remember an argument with a teacher who suggested that we may not use calculators in a test, as these would not be available for use when we were older.

I am also pretty sure that Shakespeare and his peers would turn in their graves if they were privy to the English literature of the 1960's.

I consider myself to be well educated and if the truth be told, my own writing has deteriorated during the last few years. My typing speed has however increased greatly. My ability to communicate with others as well. In fact my quest for knowledge and knowledge retention has taken a turn for the better....and I was a really good student.

So the question is....are we insisting on clinging to outdated skills sets and measuring these as opposed to moving forward and embracing new skills sets?

Atefr All if I worte the snetncee lkie tihs, are you sitll albe to raed it?

And wht if I askd u 2 read ths, wld u b able 2?

[Dave A]

Hmm. An interesting point. Personally I was thinking that some older benchmarks would be useful.

But all said and done, I'd still like my accountant to be able to do maths and have a sense when Caseware or whatever software program they are using is spitting out garbage because of an incorrectly captured line entry buried somewhere in the mix.