"And if this issue is not addressed properly, it then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy
Then every school has the audacity to have policy on equality" -Sulibreaks
How many "A" grades did you get, which were never asked for when applying for a job?
How many times have you remembered something 5 minutes just after the teacher said: "Stop writing"
Only to receive your results a month later to realize that you were only 1 mark short of the top grade?
Does that mean remembering 5 minutes earlier would've made you more qualified for a particular job?
Well, on an application form it would have
We all have different abilities, thought processes, experiences and genes
So why is a class full of individuals tested by the same means?
Introduction
Prior to the 19th Century, no organized public education system was in place anywhere in the world. In the United States, an educational system was created in order to meet the manpower needs of the Industrial Revolution. It was based upon the tenets of academic achievement and the application of reason. The most useful subjects to achieve maximum performance were ranked in a hierarchy of importance. On top of the hierarchy were subjects such as math, science and language. On the bottom of the hierarchy were less essential subjects such as music and art. Professors designed this educational system in their image. Their views on academics have come to dominate our perception of intelligence. The entire system was designed to create a track to university entrance, advanced degrees, and a perpetuation of the system.
Success in life after college / university is achieved through your choices. Most important of those choices are your daily choices, not those colossal few life decisions as many would think.
Success: The accomplishment of an aim or purpose.
Ghana at the moment:
Should it just be the question of fee free education? Is that what we have identified as the main challenge with our educational system as it stands now? As a country, what are our educational priorities? Must it always be politics as usual or fulfilling some campaign promise?
Think of it, if truly and in all sincerity, it's the question of free and cheap education, we all know and, indeed, it's common knowledge that private schools pay far more than government schools. In fact, basic education is virtually free and compulsory in Ghana. But have you ever wondered why the political class has their children in expensive private basic schools instead of the free public basic schools? If it's not abroad then it's international schools for such "golden children" They have little faith in our system...
Does academic excellence guarantee success in life?
Not only does academic excellent not guarantee success in life, it can lead dangerously in the opposite direction.
Unless you plan to be a professor, pretty much everything rewarded in the academic system is the opposite of traits, habits, mindsets, and products rewarded in the real world.
You can certainly succeed if you’re a good student, but you’ll need to deschool your mind first and learn to focus on creativity, innovation, relentless value creation, and not giving a damn about the good opinion of experts, rather than the rule-following and memorization needed in school.
Is an academic excellence more important than practical skills when it comes to a successful life?
A computer science PhD doesn’t make one a good programmer. There is a world of difference between getting an “A” in robotics class and winning a “bot” competition. MIT’s motto isn’t Mens et Manus (Latin for Mind and Hand) by accident. Great knowledge is not the same as great skill. Worse yet, decent knowledge doesn’t guarantee even decent skills. Unfortunately, educrats and eduzealots behave as if college English degrees mean their recipients can write and that philosophy degrees mean their holders can rigorously think. That’s not true.
Conclusion
If you want to be a student your entire life (and I don’t mean learning your entire life - I mean being a student in college / university) and if success for you means having all those degrees, graduating with honors, than yes academic excellence will guarantee success in your life.
If, on the other hand, being a student, graduating with honors, holding this degree is not enough for you to consider yourself a successful person, then no academic excellence will not guarantee success in your life.
You see the more reason why you and I should be worried if a whole minister of education will only be interested in students obtaining good grades. He says,"heads of schools will be sacked if students fail BECE and WASSCE".(Rephrased), "Grade D and E should not be glorified by teachers"... It's about passing theoretical examination and not acquiring real knowledge, skills and attitudes/abilities (KSAs) relevant to life. So unfortunate!
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