Dumbing down schools

Re: Math linked to real life, Sept. 4

I was a little more than stunned to read B.C. high school students will no longer have provincial exams to prove their mathematical knowledge, but instead a “numeracy assessment.”

This will involve such intense topics as, what time to set the alarm so that he/ she will arrive at an appointment/job on time, how to estimate the living space in a round house, how to read water use on a graph and how to interpret election results.

My generation would consider this elementary arithmetic.

All this because the world is changing.

I believe the educators of today are forgetting the people responsible for this “changing world” studied hard core subjects in order to develop the thought process to change the world.

These people acquired the skills to succeed and move on by studying basic principles and expanding them at universities or colleges.

These technological advances and scientific discoveries were not achieved by being taught when to set the alarm clock.

Of course, whenever teachers and education are concerned; it all depends on funding to ensure success.

In other words, when the curriculum fails the government didn’t adequately fund the program.

Beam me up Scottie, there’s no intelligent life left down here.

George Ferrall, Orleans, Ont.