1) it shows academic capabilities which are examined in order to work out if you're right for certain educational and career routes, and to see if you're right for certain colleges and universities.
2) it provides a basis for those who want to go into that field of study.
So I do agree that the things currently being taught in schools, should continue to be taught.
A problem that really sticks in my mind with education system that I have experienced personally, is the way I learnt things. It felt like I learnt topics purely for the exams. For the school that is essentially why you learn things, for their reputations which are based upon grades and exam scores. History and science are two things that stick in my mind. I loved history and I chose it as an A Level. At GCSE we did an exam on the Isreali/Palestine conflict. Brilliant thing to look at; it's relevant and modern. I learnt the ins and outs, the PLO, HAMAS etc. I knew it. But once I walked out of that exam hall, everything I knew just dispersed from my memory. We learnt it for an exam. We were sat there revising and revising, memorising treaties and dates and events so intensely it seems as though, to me, that I took it in on the surface, regurgitated the facts but they never absorbed.
Another issue I have which is commonly picked up on is the fact we don't learn a lot of important life skills at school. About contracts, debt, the law, human rights, racism, sexism, taxes, the government, government party policies, the list could go on. Being 18 and able to vote when maybe you haven't left school/college (depending on where you are in the world and what college means etc) and not being fully aware of any parties and policies. Should this be the responsibility of the school? Or if you're old enough to vote and care about voting would you look into it yourself? Maybe that's the case with this example, however, concepts such as sexism in the workplace, laws, prison, these things should be taught. Some things are picked up throughout life, my mother didn't get taught about taxes and how to raise a child and she does both of those things perfectly well. But I do think schools need to think about EDUCATING students rather than focusing solely on grades. I got good GCSEs and I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty thick, I don't feel educated.
In year 11 and both years of sixth form (if you're in America then that's like 16-18 I think) I would come home from school, get through the door and cry. I didn't get bullied, I had a great group of friends, I wasn't fat or acne ridden, I had no reason to cry so it would seem. But the pressure of school and college really got to me, it was all "look at this chart, this is where you're at is that ok good if not go to revision classes". I was sick of looking at fucking statistics and being pushed so hard by teachers who hated their jobs just so they had a nice little line graph to show their superiors. In writing it is pretty hard to explain what made me so depressed. You'll have to speak to other current students to find that one out, I've repressed that shit. But it is disturbing how many people DREAD school. It's not right, something needs fixing.
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