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I absolutely agree.
We’re raised to believe that competition helps build character, and in some cases that’s true.
However, with regards to businesses, organisations and, in your case, educational facilities, competition can have a negative effect. As mentioned in your article, teachers are pressured into concentrating on “delivering content-led lessons that ensure students pass their examinations with a good grade”, as opposed to helping students develop skills that’s will help young students develop into successful adults with the ability to adapt and learn.
But the problem arises of how to fix this issue.
State schools rely on public funding, which are overseen by the government. The league table system has been structured so that schools that place higher on the league table receive better funding, and inversely, schools that are placed lower receive lower funding. Unfortunately, it is a faulty system. It will always ensure that the number one aim of state schools, and therefore teachers, are good grades.
Now, we could just abolish the league table system, taking away the benefits of schools achieving better grades than others and provide funding to all schools equally, but this is impractical. Some schools are placed in higher cost boroughs, some provide a wider range of courses, and some have higher maintenance costs, and they will need more funding than others. And with no incentives pressurising teachers into getting better grades, we run the risk of teachers becoming lazy. It’s unfortunate, but it is true that some teachers are lazier than others, and without incentives pushing these teachers to achieve better, their teaching standards will decrease, and the students come off worse.
Also, if we equalize funding, we run the risk of stifling the development of the schools themselves. Without increasing taxation every year, schools would receive the same amount of funding year after year. And whilst that will allow the schools to maintain its current level of service, it will not provide them with the means to develop.
Independent schools do not have this issue. They are funded by fees paid by parents and income from investments. They also set their own curriculum so teachers have the freedom to teach their students about creativity, without being pressurised to concentrate on better grades. So maybe that’s the fix. All schools could become independent.
However, this has its own issues. Although they don’t need public funding, they still need funding. In order to get funding, they must attract more students, which would require current students to get better grades. But then, this means we circle back to teachers being pressured into ensuring that their students get better grades, in order to get funding. We would also run the risk of excluding students from lower income families from schools completely, as their parents wouldn’t be able to cover the costs of tuition, books, equipment, etc.
I genuinely agree that a change is needed. But however that change is done, it will be a long a difficult process. There is no quick fix to this. But even so, we cannot let that deter us from trying. Its cliché, but our children are our future, and it’s up to us to do whatever we can to ensure they have a bright one.