Unjust schools...

School should be about solidarity, about creating a sense of community and belonging for students. It should be about supporting students from day one until the very end. It should be about allowing them to become young adults; yet still helping them with the difficult maturation process. It should be able teaching them in a way that they will actually remember information and still enjoy it.

School should be a place where a student feels safe, feels as if they should be there. School is supposed to be the best years of your life – but unfortunately, for many students – it isn’t. It’s a time that students are put until immense pressure – a time in which they suffer stress so badly that they breakdown that they cry, that they just want to give up. A levels cause students so much stress that they sometimes just drop out of school – not because they want to, but because they feel as if they have no other choice. Personally, I feel that this is completely unjust – I feel that we should enjoy working, and feel a sense of meritocracy. As if all of our hard work will actually be worth it in the end – sometimes, we just work so hard, for so long and still don’t get the grades we would like – still don’t feel satisfied with our achievements. How is this fair?

Students should not have to feel as if they are suffering at school, but as if they are striving – as if they are learning and achieving. Of course it won’t always be fun and easy, but right now – it is very rarely fun or easy. It is rare to see students enjoying their learning and being willing to stay after school to do work, or go to extra classes in order to improve their work.

Schools should be meritocratic and democratic. Students should get their say – after all, what’s a school without students? Schools should be run in a way that benefits students; too often nowadays, schools are run like businesses – for profit. Students are forced to work hard day in and day out in order for their teacher to get a pay rise – or to boost their school’s reputation in the odd ‘Marketization’ process that occurs in today’s society.

How can we enjoy school and be successful if school policies are pro-reputation and anti-child welfare? Schools should be run in a way that benefits students – in a way that creates equality of opportunity for students; in a way that will make them realise that school was worthwhile. Everything is about reputation nowadays, it’s about time the student voice was heard... schools should be democratic!