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The Deteriorating state of public schools: Is it because it is free?

I heard something a few weeks ago and I was thrown into reflection on how valid it is. So we all know how bad the state of the public school system is, just discussing one of the numerous issues of the system with a colleague and then he mentioned that the public school system is the way it is because it is free and people don't have to pay for it. He went further to state that if people pay for things they are most likely to value them.

He gave an example of how much he pays as school fees for his own children and then went on to say that, he is always trying to monitor what they do in school just to ensure his hard-earned money isn't going down the drain. When his kids get back from school he tries to check for assignments and even check their notes to see if their teachers are doing their jobs well.

Agnes Onyekwere in Class Teaching

He compared the private school system to the public schools where the parents don't care what happens in school in fact sometimes, the parents take the children away from school to hawk or go to farm making the children stay away from school for long periods of time, ' if they paid heavily for tuition will they try that?'

He went further to state that teachers in public schools just really do what they want to do, they don't put in the work and time that teachers in private schools put in because parents are not on their necks to account for what they teach and how they teach it. Almost nobody comes to rant about the performance of their children, at the end of the term they just take whatever is given and move on knowing that they're not playing a serious role in the child's education.

He made examples of with high-end schools with really fat tuitions, parents get a huge say in how things are done in the school. They watch everything that happens and the reactions that they get from their wards, parents in this kind of school are members of the child's school board and matters of the board are taken seriously considering that the school wouldn't want certain parents with deep pockets taking their children away from the school so they try to adjust and be as accountable as they should be. This is not the case in public schools, there's nobody really holding anyone accountable, the parents do as they wish the school runs the way it wants.

I have really thought about this idea for a very long time knowing that it holds water but again, if the people who are to now be charged for the education of their children cannot afford to even feed them, then, what is now the hope that a child in an under-served community will get educated at all?

What are your thoughts on the matter?

Comments

  1. Mr. E27 February 2023 at 13:28

    Very valid! I think the level of education and exposure of the parents also play significantly in the attention they give to their children/ward’s learning. It’s a cocktail of other things too but we can’t take away the fact that where your treasure is, there your heart will be; where parents spend their money, they value more.

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