What should education be like and how is the youth today prepared for future challenges.
Speaking for my homeland Slovenia, there is not much wrong with our educational institutions. My opinion is that they are giving to students a lot to get it, there is a great variety of studies and this is very good for students and the future of our country. But there are certain things about the educational system that I believe need to be changed.
The fundamentals are set right and for students with a wish for education, those who are ready to study, learn and fight for their own education, this system provides knowledge and sets the bar high enough so that we can compete with the best institutions in Europe, and even America. But there is a big loophole in our system. It provides education for everybody. I mean, it should be like that and it is right, but it's not really good anymore when at University. I totally agree that people must get basic knowledge, even if they don't want to. I believe that some people don't even know what they want.
As a child all of us are dependent on our parents and they make basic decisions instead of us. You can't really decide if school is good for you or not when six, right? I think this is right. This is an obligation for all countries over the globe. I would even like to say that this should be a law for African countries. They're really poor, probably even indebted because of poor business and exploitation they are exposed to, and this is a huge problem. They can't take care of their problem by themselves. We, people from developed countries, must help them. Imagine if we for once sent a bigger amount of money for their educational institutions, for their economy. We could give it to them already, years ago. But yet our countries choose to send small amounts of money, just for their food, so that they only survive and have no strength or money left which could provide them education. We as all equals should stand together and raise money, so Africa could develop its own strong standing economy, educational system that would provide people with knowledge for the next generations, generations that would take Africa away from being a slave for developed countries. This should be our goal, not anything else.
But if I think about the educational system in Slovenia, I think of many things. There is a bunch of good students completing Universities, who are not able to express their own opinion, simply because they don't have any. As a child we think as our parents, their influence on us is massive. But education should fix that and give us the knowledge that will help to upgrade our basic opinions. Imagine if we were all capable of thinking and giving our own opinion. That would lead to a much more democratic country and not this thing we call a democratic country now. Universities and even other educational institutions should provide a system of learning basic and upgraded thinking with your own brain. What's the point really of the system that only pumps our heads with a bunch of information and doesn't teach us how to think about it? This is the biggest problem in my opinion.
But there is another serious problem as well. It's that some students go to University only to live as students; their goal is never to finish their studies, but just live with cheaper meals and other bunch of cheaper stuff that you get as a student and this takes a lot of taxpayers’ money. Our government can't find an answer to this, and neither can I. The idea of some political parties in Slovenia to make Universities payable would be a huge step back in my opinion. We would lose a big percentage of educated people and that means only rich people would be able to pay for the education. Doing so, the society would return back into the past. Though Universities in Slovenia are confident that they won't become payable, I don't believe them. It's only a matter of time, I fear. I strongly believe that each individual deserves a chance to acquire education, regardless of how rich or poor they are. And so does every society and every country around the globe.
Matic Repič
Gimnazija Ptuj, Slovenija
Speaking for my homeland Slovenia, there is not much wrong with our educational institutions. My opinion is that they are giving to students a lot to get it, there is a great variety of studies and this is very good for students and the future of our country. But there are certain things about the educational system that I believe need to be changed.
The fundamentals are set right and for students with a wish for education, those who are ready to study, learn and fight for their own education, this system provides knowledge and sets the bar high enough so that we can compete with the best institutions in Europe, and even America. But there is a big loophole in our system. It provides education for everybody. I mean, it should be like that and it is right, but it's not really good anymore when at University. I totally agree that people must get basic knowledge, even if they don't want to. I believe that some people don't even know what they want.
As a child all of us are dependent on our parents and they make basic decisions instead of us. You can't really decide if school is good for you or not when six, right? I think this is right. This is an obligation for all countries over the globe. I would even like to say that this should be a law for African countries. They're really poor, probably even indebted because of poor business and exploitation they are exposed to, and this is a huge problem. They can't take care of their problem by themselves. We, people from developed countries, must help them. Imagine if we for once sent a bigger amount of money for their educational institutions, for their economy. We could give it to them already, years ago. But yet our countries choose to send small amounts of money, just for their food, so that they only survive and have no strength or money left which could provide them education. We as all equals should stand together and raise money, so Africa could develop its own strong standing economy, educational system that would provide people with knowledge for the next generations, generations that would take Africa away from being a slave for developed countries. This should be our goal, not anything else.
But if I think about the educational system in Slovenia, I think of many things. There is a bunch of good students completing Universities, who are not able to express their own opinion, simply because they don't have any. As a child we think as our parents, their influence on us is massive. But education should fix that and give us the knowledge that will help to upgrade our basic opinions. Imagine if we were all capable of thinking and giving our own opinion. That would lead to a much more democratic country and not this thing we call a democratic country now. Universities and even other educational institutions should provide a system of learning basic and upgraded thinking with your own brain. What's the point really of the system that only pumps our heads with a bunch of information and doesn't teach us how to think about it? This is the biggest problem in my opinion.
But there is another serious problem as well. It's that some students go to University only to live as students; their goal is never to finish their studies, but just live with cheaper meals and other bunch of cheaper stuff that you get as a student and this takes a lot of taxpayers’ money. Our government can't find an answer to this, and neither can I. The idea of some political parties in Slovenia to make Universities payable would be a huge step back in my opinion. We would lose a big percentage of educated people and that means only rich people would be able to pay for the education. Doing so, the society would return back into the past. Though Universities in Slovenia are confident that they won't become payable, I don't believe them. It's only a matter of time, I fear. I strongly believe that each individual deserves a chance to acquire education, regardless of how rich or poor they are. And so does every society and every country around the globe.
Matic Repič
Gimnazija Ptuj, Slovenija