Education Agenda

The sharing of knowledge has become a monetary event. Everyone is out to make a buck. The cult of education is about feeding at the trough. Computer corporations and book publishing companies are in it to make money. They have a cornered market and are increasing their share of it exponentially as they are becoming adept at presenting ideas that are money makers for them. They have a need to make money. In order to do this there is a need to control product and create markets. And since the market is well defined they are good at it. By influencing educational thinking they continue to make money

Who controls educational thinking? In Ontario the school boards and the Province think that they do but in the end how do these publishers crank out textbooks shortly after an announcement is made concerning curriculum?

We are constantly being told that our students are substandard and that there are problems with education, even though we have an 80% plus graduation rate in the province. Does this mean our standards are too low or heaven forbid, that we are doing a great job at educating students? According to recent studies employers are not happy with the level of education graduating students are receiving.

We live in a world where everyone will not meet the standards. When we allow for the diversity of our interests, our intellectual abilities, various disabilities, student defiance, boredom, or schools not meeting the needs or interests an 80%+ grad rate seems like a pipe dream. How can it improve when we take into nature the human condition. Even at that 80% sounds rather high. Some where around 70 - 75 sounds more appropriate.

The idea that we take physically active people, force them to sit in desks, read material not the are not interested in, answer questions about same material, listen to lectures and be subjected to the whims of people who have a goal and agenda that they cannot meet makes it seem even more sketchy.

As our educational systems are further battered by monetary whims rather than sound educational agenda how will we ever know if our students are making the grade?