Reflecting on Education: Past and Present Disparities

Being a student back in the day, I could vividly remember how we usually do recitation on the assembly grounds every morning. Each student will be given a passage to study or even a story to memorize, then come to the assembly ground and face the entire group of students and teachers to give the presentation. The thing is that right from that early period, this recitation exercise starts building one for public speaking. You will start developing those skills where you can memorize something and overcome stage fright. These are the advantages of those recitations, and the good part of them is that students speak from their own experience as well. However, I am not sure if this recitation program is still in existence in today's education, especially in public schools in my country, where so many things are dead already.

In terms of sports and competition, I remember experiencing inter-school competition. Different schools in the same locality go for different competitions; it could be sports, it could be quizzes, it could be debates. People discover their talents at that stage through these activities. Some people can play football, some sprint, volleyball, basketball, etc. But now, it has been discovered that most schools do not even have space for such activities anymore. They just build schools—no play ground—but focus primarily on profits, and it becomes difficult for students in such schools to develop those skills at that stage. These are things I feel should be put in place in our today's educational institutions, just as they were back in the day.

One thing that was bad about being a student back in the day, but students now enjoy it.

Before, there was no computer in the curriculum, and even when it came, it was like drawing a computer on the board. So that exposure to computer knowledge was not there back in the day, and a lot of things change all the time. Most things that were in the curriculum back then are even outdated right now, so the fact that schools are including computer education now is a very positive development that students enjoy currently, as having access to the internet makes their work and research easier. No longer traveling to the state or federal library in search of information. That basic background it gives students from primary school to secondary school makes them have that basic computer knowledge. If you notice, the era we are in is the communication age. Many things are done through the computer, AI, and the rest. So the introduction of computers in the curriculum presently is a welcome development and is something that I wish was there then.

What could be done about the disparities?

Bringing those activities I mentioned above back to the school will be beneficial to present-day scholars. In terms of sports, debates, recitation, quizzes, and all that, I think the government should come in to make sure that they don't approve any school without having a play ground where students can play football and other sports activities. These should be the basic requirements for any school to be approved. I think the government should play that part in trying to bring back those activities that can no longer be found in most schools today. For the computer aspect, nothing can be done in terms of disparity; it's gone already, so I think schools should ensure that there's a well-equipped computer room in each school and be sure that each student practically has access to it for improved learning.

This post is in response to the #hivelearners community contest on the topic titled SCHOOLING BACK THEN

Thank you for reading through ❤️❤️❤️

All images were taken and edited in canva