The essence of equality?

Today we did presentations on Capitalism and Socialism, by Linda Chang. And Politics: Finland, by me. Finland was a handful, so I didn't get to do Singapore. No wonder they could write books about Finland, there really is something about Finland's educational system that makes children happier and more prepared for life. Their value system is also interesting. It's actually something that communism strived for, but failed to provide - a consensus on equality. You see, for communism, equality came through class struggles - hatred. Finland's equality came through 1. understanding that unity and teamwork is what would help the country survive 2. understanding that focusing on the students that are behind would help the whole society in general 3. Not mentioning elitism and 4. Education. They believe that children who are gifted can study more on their own, while children who are falling behind are those who need more help and understanding. In a lot of cases, students who have lagged in a certain area of studies can be brought back on track within one or two months of help.

I've had this issue on my mind since my freshman year in High School. In junior high, everyone started out more or less equally. Then we had our monthly exams, some people would see themselves worse off than others, some would face frustration in studies, get yelled at by the teacher... Elitism is alive and thriving in Taiwan, you're dumb if you're placing is below average. So I know at least 25 out of the 37 students in my class had already given up by their second year in junior high. In our senior year, one dropped out, and three regularly skipped class. There is no joy in learning, no sense of accomplishment, no hope of it ever getting better. These kids feel abandoned by society. And some of them are going to grow up with their backs turned to society as well. We in Taiwan like to focus our resources on the gifted and talented children - children who have shown potential since elementary school or whose parents could afford to send them to classes for various talents. So are those kids who didn't get it right the first time doomed to failure? Do they totally lack potential? If they know how to fix a motorcycle better than they know how to do physics, does that mean that they're dumb?

There's a divide in our society that is felt strongly. Kids who learn well academically and get lucky on their exams go to elite High Schools, elite Universities. These kids are the successful, smart people. Kids who were a bit distracted in junior high, who face frustration in their academic learning are delegated to 'bad' schools. A lot of times I've met people who have been afraid to state the name of their university. A lot of times I've met people who have said "Wow, you go to ASHS? You must be smart!". That has always made me uncomfortable. Only ten percent of the student population are going to get into 'good' high schools, because our society is only going to have so many 'good' high schools. Most students who go to 'bad' high schools or vocational schools have a common characteristic - they've given up on themselves. They like to go shopping, play video games, hang out with their friends, mess with the teachers. They don't think that school has anything good to offer them. This defeatism attitude in these schools only make the entire learning atmosphere worse. Teachers hate teaching in these schools because the students are recalcitrant and distracted. Because of this, the teachers treat students as though they don't want to improve themselves, and students are only going to hate the teachers more for never believing in them.

If we catch students that are falling behind the moment they do so, if society were supportive of these students in the crucial stage when learning habits are formed - junior high - then these students would not only be better off, the entire society would be better off as well.

We really need to put more money into education and change the focus. We all know that a lot of students who are ahead can learn by themselves. Give them a college text book and they'd study the life out of it. Society does not need to focus extra resources on creating elitism.