Is the education system sufficient?

[Double.Trouble]

LOL that's changing. Abbott is pretty much americanising the whole system; with universities being free to determine their own fees for courses (I'm not sure if I right here... correct me if I'm wrong). He uses the reason that he wants to build more competition and how Australian universities cannot compete internationally with other universities. But it's a load of bullshit because my tutors get paid approximately $50/hr to teach 15+ students which is RIDICULOUS. We spend $1000 per course and there's not even airconditioning in most of the building.... and they're already building a new building for accommodation, cutting down costs further by COMBINING subjects... it's ridiculous

Yikes, that's awful. Yeah the costs go to the teachers (who are way overpaid) and the sports coaches who get paid millions per year. :/

[spike]

No. At least in America it's not.

Lawmakers - people who have never even taught - are making the standards for students. My mom is a kindergarten teacher in an extremely poor district. She has kids that come in at a two year old level, and she's expected to get them up to a seven year old level. One kid did not even understand how to go up stairs. I mean these are drug babies coming from abusive homes. It is no fault of my mom's that she can't get these kids onto a sufficient level for first grade, and yet she is being punished for it. HALF of her evaluation is based on student performance based on how lawmakers think those students should be doing.

And don't even get me started on college. Why do I have to dig myself into a giant hole of debt when I'm just starting to get out into the world?

[Water]

No, they all have deadlines, push the kids too far, don't let us voice an opinion then in your last year or two, they make you decide on a career even though you still have to ask to go to the bathroom. x_x

[magicol]

america's education system looks like a wish here in Argentina, at least we have free education.

[peebles]

I do not think it is adequate at all. I was in school for teaching, until I realized how messed up the system is. Maybe I will teach in a different country, but not in the US. I am also a nanny/tutor, so I see what the kids are doing in school now.
Like you said, one of the biggest problems is that a lot of teacher's don't give an f. A lot of people I know who are going for their teaching certificate are just doing it so they will be (maybe?) guaranteed a job. If teaching paid more, it would be a more competitive field, but it's not. This even extends to college professors. A lot of them are forced to teach to fund their research, and they don't care/can't teach the material. Especially at a college level (when so much money is being spent) it is a waste. There have been points in my life where I feel like I am just buying my degree and not learning anything.
Another thing is that kids are pushed too hard because the state forces them to score a particular score on standardized tests. One of the kids that I nanny sucks at spelling and each day when we practice for his spelling tests, he gets crazy stressed. Then he ends up getting horrible scores on his tests bc he is so stressed. Same goes for high school and beyond. There is so much stuff to do, many people don't learn anything, they just memorize it and forget it the next week. What is the point of even learning it.
If they took the time to make learning fun, and do it at an appropriate pace, people would preform better.

[chiro]

My niece struggles big time with math, they are constantly bringing home math homework that even I (only being 24) don't even understand because of how ridiculous and strict they are with it and telling them the way it "has to be done".

I feel horrible for her. I've watched her make herself sick over it, get hives/throw up/etc.

Teaching system is so messed up, and has been for a long time now.

That and from the schools I went to I had to pretty much re-teach myself english paper formats & everything because they didn't teach us the proper formats for college. Like what the hell.

[DarkByte]

If you are all learning the same stuff , no ones thinking outside the box. Its like having a army of robots set to do things in a standard way... No innovation , no thought for a better way to do things. It is just , this is how you do it because this is how we do it. Not only that but when I was in school the internet wasn't as big as it is now. By the time I was 13 I could program my own version of Microsoft word , while my classmates where learning how to use it. Computers where the one thing that interested me but no one fueled that , I learnt it all myself.

[Mama Bear]

I am a high school teacher here in Australia, specialising in English and drama. I am engaged to an American, so we often compare the differences in our societies and lifestyles. From our experiences and conversations, it seems as though Australia's educational system is a lot more supportive of students. My partner said that in school (graduated '04) they were rarely given time to work on assessment in class, and drafting was not mandatory. I know in my own professional that twice a term I become swamped with papers that need feedback for improvement. Comparing our university educations, his is a lot broader. It came as a surprise to me to learn that something like psychology had mandatory LOTE and PE courses; while some of my uni courses were a waste of time, they were all aimed at skilling us for our career path.

While no educational systems are ideal, and I certainly do not claim the Queensland one to be, the major contributing factor to the poor results in students where I teach is apathy from home. Education is not given as much value as it ought to be, so I have parents literally tell me that they're not going to even try to get their kid to work on anything at home, because it's too much of a hassle. It is this attitude which starts a downward spiral of ignorance in a society.

[zxzero]

If you are all learning the same stuff , no ones thinking outside the box. Its like having a army of robots set to do things in a standard way... No innovation , no thought for a better way to do things. It is just , this is how you do it because this is how we do it. Not only that but when I was in school the internet wasn't as big as it is now. By the time I was 13 I could program my own version of Microsoft word , while my classmates where learning how to use it. Computers where the one thing that interested me but no one fueled that , I learnt it all myself.

I think the biggest problem is the way they go about teaching, they do it as if everyone learns the same way. Personally I think the older generation had it right, just put them into a workplace and get them to learn by hearing, watching and doing. Schooling wasn't really needed as it is now. Even to get a job doing construction you need to at least go to college for most places to even look at you.

I also think that some people excel at certain things while they don't excel at others, so therefore why not see what they excel at and like then train them for that instead of just giving everyone the same treatment.

[TwistyBR]

you americans have many of the best colleges, here in brazil we aint got one school in the top 100 ranking