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Lab Rats...
Yeah well... I honestly feel like one!
It's my senior year and I'm not enjoying ANYTHING about it! We get bad news every single day... The Ministry of Education here in the UAE has absolutely NO idea what they're doing. It's like they're sitting on their high chairs competing who can suggest the most stupid and absurd new decision!
It's almost the end of first term and our Mid-Years are getting near, but they still haven't decided whether our exam percentages will be out of 100 or 200... We as students have a right to know how our marks will be calculated! The only answers we get are Dunno, beats me, Lord knows, who knows? HELLO??!!!!! Ministry of Education... it's YOUR job to tell us!!!
Let's see... We have 3 oral exams for each of the eight subjects we take, 3 written exams, 4 lab exams, Final Mid-Years, homework, notebook inspection, behavior marks, and PROJECTS!!! Where the crap are we supposed to get all the time from??? Let's not forget the daily yelling, emotional put-downs, and marks-threatening. The Bootlicking attitude we have to fake kills me the most, cuz if you don't, your report card by the end of the year won't be looking that nice, will it?
The Projects ~ We honestly don't have time for projects! 80% - 90% of the students BUY their projects.. Yes, they buy them... each project costs around 300 DHS to 1000 DHS... depends... and you know where those projects end up? I bet you can guess... in the garbage! I'll post a picture of how all that money goes to waste sometime... 1000 DHS (about 300 dollars) can feed a family in Africa for a year MAN! So it's like the students BUY their marks. Look, I'm against the concept of buying your marks, but let's be frank, is there ANY other option the students have? I've only been in the UAE for around a year now (people please don't take it personally) but the education is horrible! The students were NEVER taught how to use their intellectual abilities, never taught how to use their creativity... nothing! And they expect them to make their own projects? For God's sake, the students here use a calculator to add 15 to 9!! Come on!
Again, I'm not blaming the students for being "unsmart", I'm blaming the people in charge. Put a kid in a jungle and another kid in a highly educated environment.. will jungle boy be capable of solving a complicated math question when he doesn't know the basics of math? Of course not! But bring the other child, he was raised and taught in the right environment therefore he was taught how to unlock his abilities and how to use his mind. Both children might be smart, the only difference is that the second child had a better chance of learning how to use the brain God gave him.
Don't expect the students to suddenly become smart and creative on their own during their senior year... they'll just pay for their marks. Simple, no?
I criticised... here's a suggestion, if you want to make a smart Emarati Youth, begin with a new generation since it won't work with the people mentioned above. Start with them from square one, step by step, it will work! Teach them, plant the right seeds, next thing you know they'll all be people who are helping our Ummah!
I wish I could sit with a Ministry official and tell him everything I think, I wish someone would hear us through, I'm trying to speak the student's minds.. Listen to us, stop testing things on us, if you aren't sure what you're doing and if you're not ready to do it... JUST DON'T DO IT!!! Fix the problem from its root, patching it up won't help...
There's so much to say, but I think this post is getting way too long, thanks for taking time to read it...
God Bless...
Hala.