Ideas for a Better Education

It is unfortunate that so many students walk away from twelve years of high school education without the skills or knowledge needed to perform basic functions. How often is it seen that a young adult enters his first job unable to do simple math? How many first-year university students don't understand the principle of proper scheduling or writing good papers? How frequently do we meet people who cannot even spell normal words in the English language? With these examples, it must then be evident that something is failing in our educational system. Schools continue to grow worse, student grades continue to decline, and the overall education upon graduating continues to decrease more with each passing year.

Education is the foundation of a society, for without it, citizens are unable to live their lives. At least a minimal number of people must know how to run businesses, make budgets, write contracts, answer emails, and conduct meetings. However, with the continued decline of education in our modern society, we find an increased number of applicants or even employees who are inadequate for the job laid before them.

There are, of course, many people in society who prize education and are diligent to pursue it whatever the cost. We see, in many of our universities, students who excel in classes and later become successful business people all over the world. However, when we see students such as these who have high grades and performance levels, we conclude that they must be born naturally gifted in this way. I would beg to differ. Every human being has a mind, and for the most part, that mind can be trained to be excellently educated. If only we had this mindset and stopped giving excuses for our society's lack of education.

It is commonly heard that we need more money for the schools in order to improve education. The schools need more money for more programs, better programs, bigger programs. The schools need more money to buy new equipment, give teachers more training, or provide exciting opportunities which will motivate students. However, money is not going to impact education unless some sort of standard is set. The problem with so much of modern society is that we give excuses for people failing. When a student fails an exam, we don't blame it on the fact that the student never studied or spent the entire class time texting on his cell phone. When a student is struggling in his classes, we say he must have a learning disability. When a student graduates from high school and doesn't know how to write the papers needed in college, we blame it on the fact that his school didn't have the right programs for him to learn.

The reality of the situation is that we must stop giving excuses for the lack of education in society. In order to improve education, improve the knowledge and wisdom that is gleaned during schooling, we must require more diligence and responsibility. Students must learn how to learn. Learning,in fact, is much more than showing up in a class room at eight in the morning. It is more than merely taking in information and spitting it back out for tests. Learning is gleaning important information and skills which can, in turn, be used to become successful in the future.

Even if I had all the money and resources in the world, I don't believe that is the key to a better education. We don't need more exciting programs. We don't need brand-new computers. We don't need the latest, greatest fad in order to up the grades. Instead, we need teachers and principals to hold fast to a high level of education. We need schools to demand respect, diligence, and responsibility. We need parents who will drill into their children the absolute importance of being well-educated. We need mentors and people who will set excellent examples for younger students in order to showcase the impact education has on a person's life and the society as whole.

Unfortunately, there is a tremendous lack of people who will stand up for such ideas about better education. Our society will continue to offer excuses for areas of lack and will see the impact of the educational decline with each passing day. However, if we hope and desire that our society continue to remain strong and successful, we must put forth every beneficial effort to improve education in order that today's students might become tomorrow's well-educated citizens.