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New Zealand has sunk to a new low in modern education. A number of high school students have started a petition to not be failed on a national history exam as they did not understand the meaning of the word 'trivial'. For those not in the know, trivial means "of little value or importance" which aptly describes this petition given that it is being made by grade 13 high school students who by all rights should know the meaning of this word. More than 2400 people have signed the petition 'expressing their frustration with the exam question'. Student Logan Stadnyk claimed that he was "lucky" to have known what the word meant, as half his class didn't. "New Zealand History Teachers' Association chairman Graeme Ball has sided with the students calling the exam a 'little bit of a snafu'" but not providing an adequate answer as to why students in grade 13 would not understand a common English word.
Have the three Rs lost all meaning in schools? Are we failing our students? Or is this just another case of today's teens being snowflakes?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday November 18 2018, @06:51AM
I wouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions. Sometimes, scheduling just doesn't work out to the student's best advantage. I could have used a thirteenth year to get a couple more electives, and third year of chem. Had I done so, I would have taken another year of biology as well. That only accounts for half the day, so I may (or may not) have taken another English or lit course.
Years later, my brainy son could have put a thirteenth year to good use. He had all the prerequisites for college, but he would have taken the maths that he didn't fit in already.
One of my nephews complained of something similar when he was finishing high school, but I can't remember now what he was wanting to fit in.
A lot of that depends on the school that you attend, as well. For instance, if you go to a school that doesn't offer chem beyond 2nd year, or calc, or whatever, then that thirteenth year would do you little good. Then it would only be a make up year for incompletes and fails.
And, finally - there may be some kids who haven't yet reached the age of majority at the end of the 12th year. Might as well stay in school, if you can't get a decent job, right? That may vary by country - we don't see much of that in the US any more. Most schools just won't allow you to start 1st grade until you're six years and some months now. I was five years old when I started, and didn't turn 18 until days before graduation.