Education is a fundamental human right as designated by the 1976 UN Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Yet despite this, our education system has been increasingly neglected due to a misallocation of funds by the provincial government. Schools in B.C. are suffering. The B.C. Liberal government funds education at a rate of $1,000 less per student than the national average.
Especially alarming are school closures, overcrowded classrooms and the lack of support for children with special needs. The B.C. Liberal government promised to reduce class-size and class-composition issues quite some time ago; however, students are still waiting for the support they desperately need. Unless we want another generation of children to be deprived of the opportunity to reach their full potential there must be action.
The ideal function of education should be to give children the tools to function within our society. This comes from a mutual arrangement in which teachers, parents, students and government treat each other with respect. We must strive for a massive paradigm shift within education to ensure a more just and peaceful society.
Some of the most valuable moments of a child’s education happen in one-on-one conversations with teachers. For a student, one-on-one time can be what lets them grasp a concept that was just out of reach. For a teacher, it can mean getting the complete picture of a child’s progress, far more than any standardized test can offer. But with so many school districts forced to cut back on teachers, one-on-one time is getting harder to find. That has to change.
Student voices are not being heard right now because our culture has made learning a top-down hierarchy. Our curriculum is decided entirely by adults with little input from students. This is because our teachers are put in positions where they cannot meet community needs because they must meet the incredibly hard standards that come from the federal and provincial governments instead. It has become the norm for bureaucrats to determine how children should learn. The best way to change this is for students themselves to demand that their education be treated more seriously, and that their own new and creative ideas be used to change this pernicious status quo.
There are two things that must happen before we will see positive change. The first is for adults to realize that they have a lopsided amount of influence on the school system; and then they must move to a collaborative and inclusive model, one in which everyone, including students, decides what constitutes good education.
The second is that youth must escape from the common and misleading stereotype that life does not begin until you turn 18, that your younger years are a gift, and should be spent being free from stress and responsibility. It is true that being young is special, but only because of your energy; you should take initiative because you are not weighed down by certain pressures that grownups deal with. If as a culture we make these acknowledgments then we can come together to design an education system that works for everyone.
Dakota McGovern is a Grade 12 high school student at Windsor House school who is passionate about education activism and is organizing a protest against education funding cuts with a student-run organization called the BC Student Alliance. The event will be at the Vancouver Art Gallery at 1 p.m. on May 28.
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