[Lack of] Freedom of Education

“I don’t want to go to school!” We hear these words, we say these words, we think these words. Why? Because in America we have to go to school. We have to. The government tells us we have to go to school or be homeschooled. There are states that if we aren’t sending our kids to school, we can get in trouble with the law. Students are unmotivated. Students fake sick, slack on their homework, joke around too much, deliberately just skip class - they just don’t care. Don’t get me wrong, I know there are students who do take school seriously, and sometimes even a little “too seriously” by some peoples standards. Kids all across the globe dread going to school….

Actually they don’t.

This isn’t a bashing on America post. Well, it isn’t intended to be one, so hopefully I don’t do that. Time and time again I am reminded of how little we Americans, especially those who are in middle school and high school, appreciate the fact that we are ‘forced’ to go to school. When did becoming educated become a bad thing in America?

That is not how it is everywhere. Here in Ethiopia, students are lucky to get passed the 8^th grade. Let me stop you right there. It is not, and I repeat not, because they are undereducated or unable to do school. It is because there is an extremely hard test that every student must take in order to pass 8^th grade. What happens if they don’t pass? Their education is stopped. So they study. Night and day. More than I have ever studied throughout high school and college. And they are in 8^th grade. For those that pass the test, they have  one year to study more, and more, and more, because they have to take another test in order to get to 10^th grade. Finally when they make it to grade 12 there is even more pressure to study their brains out because if they don’t score well enough on this one test, the chances of them getting into college goes down severely. Why? Because they can’t afford to go to a good University. Let me make it a little more personal.

My friend, Gilany, from Nekempte is a good student. She studied, and made it to 9^th grade. Then she studied, and studied, and praise God she made it to 10^th grade. Her entire high school career she devoted to educating herself, absorbing as much knowledge as she possibly could. Why? Because senior year she has to take a test that will determine the course of her life.  She took the test. We eagerly awaited the results, prayed, and waited, and prayed, and waited. Finally the day came that she got her results. She came to Bible Study. She spoke in afan Oromoo to Doretha. On the way home Doretha told us the results: she didn’t score high enough.

She doesn’t know where her life will go. She doesn’t know what she’ll do. All she knows is she failed.

For those that pass the test and are able to go onto University, they don’t hold much weight in the decision of their career path. You get to put down 7 choices of majors, starting from the one you want most. The school can, and often does, deny the major you want. They’ll tell you what you are going to study. Let me make this a little more personal. 

One of our workers, Zenbaba, has four kids, two of which are in school. Her eldest daughter wanted to be in medicine. The school put her in computer science. Her second daughter had a similar outcome. Neither were even close to what they hoped and dreamed for.  It doesn’t matter what their passions are. It doesn’t matter what they want. What matters is what the people in charge say. They don’t drop out because they need an education to get a good job. If they stopped going to school what could they become? A nanny? A house worker? A driver? I’m not talking down on these jobs, because these are important and good jobs here. People are honored to have these jobs. What I am saying is if they have the opportunity to get a good education, regardless it’s the field they want or not, they almost have to do what they are told.

What I want you to take from this is that the education system in America gives us freedom. We don’t have to put on more stress than should be allowed as a 13 year old. We don’t have to study ourselves sick just to make it to 10^th grade. We don’t have to worry ourselves to death that we won’t be able to get into a college. For those of us that go to college, we have the freedom to choose our major. We get to decide the course of our life. We all need to stop taking our education for granted. We all need to own our education. We all need to start taking our education a little more seriously. We all need to take a step back and realize how privileged we really are to be “forced” to go to school.