Allow learners to choose their own careers that will fulfil them
Forcing school children to study things they don’t love will only frustrate them
One thing is certain, our grade 12 classrooms are not made up of learners who are academically inclined. Many of them dream of pursing careers in the arts, in sport, etc but academia.
Sadly, the careers they have interest in are limited to extra-mural activities. They are not part of their normal curriculum but they are meaningful to many pupils.
It gets even more frustrating. The parents also do not believe or are not informed about the many other great careers their children can follow. They are still convinced that the only “real” careers are in engineering, medicine, the police department and teaching. In fact, they want their children to pursue careers that will land them jobs in government sectors because there is “job security” in that space.
However, there is more to career choices than the “security” of a job. People must follow careers that fulfil them, and certainly not every young person is going to be fulfilled by a career that requires them to major in science or maths. Others study these subjects because their parents instruct them to do so or they will disown them. They study them more out of fear than choice.
I understand the directionless obsession with STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects. It is all we want to do through and through and we don’t have identified points of arrival or success indicators. What do I mean by that? When do we say we have enough graduates in STEM subjects?
The more pertinent question is, when are we going to say we need more graduates in the field of arts?
SA is always going with the wind of buzzwords. There are no clear intentions or goals we are working towards as the departments of education or government. The trajectory of our education will change only when the countries we look up to start preaching the importance of arts (if they ever do). There is a very popular letter that generally surfaces around this time of the year. Apparently, it was written to parents by a school principal in Singapore.
An extract of it says: “The exams of your children are to start soon. I know you are all really anxious for your child to do well. But please do remember, among the students who will be sitting for the exams there is an artist who doesn’t need to understand math…
“There is an entrepreneur who doesn’t care about history or English literature. There is a musician whose chemistry marks won’t matter. There’s an athlete whose physical fitness is important than physics.”
He reminds parents of the vastness of careers. The writer emphasises the importance of not forcing children to follow only certain careers paths.
Here at home we downplay anything and everything that is not related to the academic world. We don’t make the school an environment that celebrates excellence in and outside the classrooms, especially in state schools.
We are eagerly waiting for January to find out how the 2022 matriculants fared. Many of them are writing these exams simply because they have no other choice. They know what they love but nobody is putting a stamp of approval on their dreams. They are made invalid, inadequate and not worth following and celebrating.
It is very clear that part of the reasons private schools achieve remarkable outcomes is a result of giving the arts and sport the attention they deserve. In return, the learners give their academic studies their all.
This is why STEM has to evolved into STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and maths).
As we continue to wish our matriculants well, I think it’s important to ponder on the disservice we are rendering to kids who needed more time on the soccer pitch, athletic fields and some time with musical instruments.
With all the science laboratories that have been built over the years, I believe it is also time our government invests in theatres in schools to nurture other talents. This also presents the government with an opportunity to build multipurpose sporting facilities at schools.
Passing matric should be a ticket to a future of one’s dreams and not to be limited to being a STEM champion.