The exorbitant amount of college education is an issue that has been widely discussed in the past several years. According to reports, more students are discouraged to go to school because it is simply too difficult to do so, especially for median and low-earner families. Those who push through end up saddled with the responsibility of paying staggering school loans and interest for decades, making it difficult to enjoy the fruits of one’s hard work and labor. Some of those who decides to attend school chooses to enroll in narrow technical and job- focused training under the prevalent assumption that the said courses are the practical choices today when money is of the essence. Personally, I think that there is nothing wrong with that, but educators point out to the relevance of liberal arts degree as these courses provide students with a useful set of employability skills that will never be obsolete, which includes, but is not limited to, the ability to communicate effectively, the ability to think independently, and the capacity for lifelong learning (Ungar 191). Taking up a course on a vocational or professional area of study may put a student at a disadvantage for being too narrowly fitted to a certain job, especially in today’s fast-changing world. But who could blame them when money is the problem.
Adam Davidson’s article, “Is College Tuition Really Too High?” posted in New York Times on 8 Sept. 2015 provides a background on this serious issue in higher education. According to the article, a median American family used to earn under $13,000 in a year 40 years ago. If the family spends for a home and a modest enough car, a student would be able to attend a four-year private college for $2,000 a year with some scrimping, or $510 per year in a public university (Davidson). Today’s median family earns about $64,000, while studying in a private university has tripled to $31,000, while in a public college, tuition fee has risen to $9,000, almost four times its price 40 years ago (Davidson). Clearly, times have changed so much, and with these increase in prices, there is little wonder why studying in university has become a challenge.
Another issue raised in the field of education is how students who are supposedly degree holders are found to be ill-prepared for employment. This is a major concern, especially when considering the amount spent on college education. Why do students pass their courses but end up unprepared for future employment? What are the basis of the grading system today, both in the secondary and tertiary levels? Amidst these questions is the concept of failing as a teaching tool that could be implemented again to encourage students to study harder and work hard to attain their goals. In an article by Sherry, which talks about the positive effects of failing among students, she disusses how thousands of students graduate today and receive diplomas which are meaningless (487). This claim was inspired by reports about how many students who graduate from high school only do so because teachers don’t want to hurt their feelings and get discouraged in studying. Although this reasoning makes sense, it is unfair to let students go out of school with their grades and diploma when in reality, their learning is not complete. It may be true that failing marks may impact them negatively, but so would giving passing marks when they don’t really deserve it. This will catch up on them later on in their lives, as they may find that despite graduating, they are not prepared to take on the role of a working employee because they lack the proper training and knowledge to be one.
I had a good childhood. I had so much friends back then, and some of them I still keep until today. We would always meet and play whenever we get the chance, and in my household, that meant after I was done with my schoolwork and some household chores during the weekend. My elementary years went by with my grades just okay, which means they were low but not the lowest in the class. However, when I went to high school, things became very different. The demand in school was higher and more difficult to meet, and the lessons became increasingly harder every year. To get to the brunt of it, I collected several failing grades, especially in science and math. I was disheartened, to say the least, and I felt bad that my parents were scolding me almost everyday, always asking me how I expect myself to get into a good university with my failing grades. I felt so stressed everyday, and everyday after school, I would dread going home because if my parents don’t lecture me, they would just walk past by me, and I couldn’t blame them. They have always been understanding about my grades, but even I would admit that my academic performance was really going downhill.
With all the tension and disappointments around me, I have decided to take responsibility of my studies. I realized I couldn’t go on the way I was doing things when I was in elementary and middle school. I should put in more time and effort, study longer than I used to, and make sure that I hand in the other requirements such as papers and reports with better quality. I studied hard and played less. My friends and I would still meet sometimes, but not as long as we used to. I was struggling in math, more like drowning, actually, and even until now, I would still get the chills whenever I think about how my head hurt so much after taking the math final exam during my senior high school. My last three years in high school were spent studying hard and pulling my grades higher. When I graduated, I didn’t have any failing grades, and my parents were happier. I was definitely happy as I was fnally able to get out of school.
Sherry in her article stated that students are not likely to put school on top of their priority list unless they see that there is something bigger at stake (489), such as getting a good job that would pay them well. Until they find their reason for learning, they are less likely to work hard in completing their studies with learning as the main goal. In my situation, the idea also came to mind, but I was more encouraged to improve my grades by my parents. I felt bad that I thought I was disappointing them because I saw how hard they worked preparing for my college studies. They had been so lenient in my grades when I was younger, and I got to enjoy my childhood because of that. I guess when I entered high school, it was time to give up being a child and take responsibilities for my studies instead. I was thankful that I realized it when I needed to. However, not all students were as lucky as I was, because some got passing grades even though they were really supposed to fail.
According to Sherry, a school teache herself, there are some teachers who pass their students because they were afraid that failing grades would discourage the students even more. Sure, this may hurt students, but with the active participation of parents who will be there to help them understand the situation and assist them in making sense of their predicament, students may just find the positive consequences of receiving a failing mark. After all, it is better to be confronted with the problem right away instead of trying to hide or avoid it, which is what some teachers are unknowingly doing as they try to spare the feelings of the students. The idea of passing students, when in actuality, they were really suppose to fail, is cheating the students. They are given a false sense of confidence, which would have them thinking that since they were able to graduate, they are capable and competent to take on any job. However, when they finally land a one, they would find the devastating truth that they are not prepared and that they don’t know how to deal with the situation. They find themselves struggling then, disappointed at themselves perhaps for not being good enough to do his/her job, when in reality, it was the school and the educators who are at fault. These experiences can be debilitating to the students’ sense of self, which could sometimes be irreparable. In essence, instead of helping the students, they were instead sent to a possible series of life-long disappointments, unless they are fortunate enough to be able to attend adult-literacy programs.
Learning this study made me realize that I did the right thing. I was able to pass my subjects and I learned the things that I had to that better prepared me for university. I was not cheated of my right to learn, but instead gained valuable life learnings such as being responsible and to value hard work. Now, I only need to make sure that I apply the same hard work I did when I was in high school, to guarantee that I will graduate college all prepared for employment. According to Sherry, saving a student from getting a failing grades unfairly is cheating the employers as well. Employers hire employees based on the applicants’ academic credentials, thinking that if they, the applicants are able to graduate, they must have gotten the proper training. Then, they will eventually find out that they failed in their expectations of the employee, but it is too late because they have already hired one. This is a common scenario in the corporate setting these days, as Time has reported that employers complained about graduates coming to work in their office surprisingly ill-prepared, despite coming from expensive universities (Marcus). In the process, parents who pay their children’s tuition fees are also cheated. Students who deserve to fail should be given flunking marks, because that would mean they failed to show the required level of preparedness that would have gotten them a passing mark.
Today’s expensive education deserves the quality that parents and states are paying for. I, for one, would definitely demand this because I want my parents to get their money’s worth. There are schools which claim to be one of the best learning institutions who can provide students with a high-quality of learning. Of course, this education that they are offering come with a price, and most often than not, they are quite pricey. But since parents want what’s best for their children, they would normally enroll their children in one of those schools. The schools, on the other hand, would teach, but there are no means available that could measure if the students are really learning the way they should. Getting a good job may not be a legitimate barometer as connections can make that happen. It is their performance at work that would best indicate if they have indeed learned, but even if they did not, it would be too late by then to go back. In lieu of these events in the society, there are people who are pushing for the implementation of a comprehensive college exam, which is much like the one that graduating high school students take before graduation. This exam will function the same way, such that graduating college and university students will be required to pass the said exam before they could be allowed to graduate (Marcus). There are already some states which are implementing it, and are seeing a projection of increase in student literacy. Through this method, schools will be more strict in terms of passing students in order to keep the school’s reputation. Parents and students then are not getting their money’s worth. Failing students if they really failed is a good incentive for schools to follow, especially when the college comprehensive exam gets to be implemented. Schools would then be guaranteed to produce the best students.
As much as students need to learn about the concepts of hard work and success, they also need to understand failure and learn from them. According to John Dewey, an early educational reformer, “failure is instructive” as only those people who “really think learn quite as much from his failures as from his successes” (Lenz). I am proud that I was one of those who learned from my failures and took it constructively. I welcome challenging lessons, but according to an article, one particular policy, although well-intented, which worked against the ultimate goal of higher achievement was when students were given a free pass to design their own courses of study for them to manage easily and increase the number of graduates (Hard Work and High Expectations). There is also the policy which offered credit for alternative academic subjects which are less rigorous than the core subjects. These policies have made it easier for students to complete their degree without getting the proper training and learning that they need for their lives outside the school. In addition, these policies also decrease the quality of education. This is another serious matter, and with all other issues in education, it should also be addressed effectively soon.
Work Cited
Cherif, Abour H. Gerald E. Adams, Farahanz Movahedzadeh, Margaret A. Martyn, and Jeremy
Davidson, Adam. “Is College Tuition Really High?” The New York Times. 8 Sept. 2015.
Web. 22 Apr 2016.
“Hard Work and High Expectations: Motivating Students to Learn.” Kid Source. Web. 22 Apr
2016.
Lenz, Bob. “Failure is Essential to Learning.” Edutopia. 8 Apr 2015. Web.
22 Apr 2016.
Marcus, Jon. “The New College Exam: A Test to Graduate.” Time. 25 Jan 2014. Web. 22 Apr 2016.
Sherry, Mary. “In Praise of the ‘F’ Word.” Web. 22 Apr 2016.
