The system is broken, as it has always been broken; we are all aware of this except those in charge. It’s giving “sus”. Our very own curriculums, tests and government bodies have been to blame.

Invisible talents

In schools, we have geniuses that have been ridiculed, we have athletes second-guessing their career choices, and we have gifts and talents being wasted before our very eyes.

The pressure to perform

From the beginning, we were classified according to how one performs under that pressure of letters, words and numbers, making some think that they have life sorted and others believe that they are failures, but life doesn’t work like that now, does it? Those so-called top achievers later discover that life is actually a skill, and being pampered might have made them soft or given them a false reality. And those so-called failures, who had to work from the bottom, with no cheers and applause, had to make things work.

School vs Reality

Life in school and outside of school are two different worlds. Here, the C students run the shots and decisions while the A students make themselves useful. Wow, a complete shock, and who do we have to thank? The system.

Real stories and real losses

I have a friend from high school. He wasn’t doing particularly well in school; he would put in effort, and nothing would return. If he had had a choice, he would have gone to greener pastures by grade 9 to venture into TVET colleges (Technical and Vocational Education and Training colleges), somewhere he could’ve been seen and useful. Other friends of mine at the time wanted to become sports stars and develop themselves from an early age, but nope, they all had to remain and suffer. It’s not like they were paying their own fees, right?

When I saw them, I saw CEOs, athletes, businessmen, and people ready to break out and make a difference, but they had to submit to the system, sitting and waiting in an environment they never asked for. The picture of a bird wanting to get out of its cage – that’s what I saw. They were doomed from the beginning, being compared to bookworms that do not have much going on outside of school. Compliments to the bookworms, though.

Curriculum Bias

The curriculum isn’t inclusive enough; it isn’t considerate. It’s like, ‘Deal with the hand you are given.’ If a bookworm could get a master’s in, let’s say, sciences and reap the rewards, why couldn’t an artist do the same in design class? , why couldn’t an athlete do the same on the pitch, and why couldn’t a person with the desire to have a business do the same in their studies? That’s exactly why most people aren’t working the jobs their degrees and certificates are written on; in fact, the average person has probably worked many jobs they didn’t desire, and later in life, they had enough of it and redirected to the place they always wanted or desired as a kid. All this at the expense of time, effort and money wasted.

False choices and empty promises

‘Well,’ you might say, ‘but the opportunities are there, there are such options, and yes, you are right, but there hasn’t been any backing, any real investments, nor a real drive to take these types of students seriously, now, have they?’ Instead, they have had to settle and become the subject of the systems. These are the true victims of a broken system, designed to segregate and diminish any voices that oppose it.

Why schools should allow A.I?

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Solutions

Clearly, the system of old has to be redone. We need a structural reform for the curriculum to include entrepreneurship, vocational skills, design, sport, arts, and culture to be taken seriously. Schools should allow these as serious options along with the traditional linguistics and mathematical dominance from an early stage for exposure, and assessments should be less rigid and more holistic.

These are just a few solutions I’ve identified. I hope the education system can jump on board sooner rather than later with real funds and investments for the futures of our youth.