School Daze
Mrs Dagger, who is an educator in one of our nation's not so esteemed Government-run educational establishments, will on occasion arrive home and throw herself at the mercy of my ears to tell me the most unbelievable of tales. I don't know how she makes it through the day, because the stories I hear are enough to make a grown man cry.
Take for example, the class of Form Four students who actually tried to explain to their teacher that a literary device was something that one hooks up to a computer. The children actually argued the point, not giving way at all. The poor woman had to inquire of her colleagues if she was wrong and actually stupid.
This same teacher gave an assignment, and informed the students that in writing the essays, one had to use one point per paragraph, meaning that each paragraph should centre around one idea. One eager child raised his hand and asked if he could use commas too. The poor woman could not continue the class after that.
Consider the young lady who inquired as to what it meant when someone called one an "embassy." Clearly she meant imbecile. How ironic.
How about the young student when asked in a Principles of Accounts exam to explain what capital was, wrote Port-of-Spain.
One lively lad deduced that the capital of Venezuela was V. Indeed it is, eh.
Consider that it is only the sixth week of the school term and all these events have happened within this time frame. Yes, these are true stories, I kid you not.
And this lack of knowledge doesn't only extend to the lower forms. Sixth Formers are also subject to this stupidity. Consider the entire class of Sixth Formers who didn't know what or where Quebec was. Well all except for one bright lady who said that 'quebec" was the position or place one was in, for example in front or behind. I am still trying to figure that one out. Perhaps someone can help me. Maybe the poor child was thinking of "queueing up?" I don't know.
What I do know is that our education system is in a really sad "quebec."
