this post is about the education of my kids, a short review of the Hungarian educational system, and finally, some thoughts on (not) writing :)
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I have started to monitor my kids' school activities, homeworks more closely. within a year, they both will have to apply to another school. it involves exams. I think we should better start this early.
my son's got the brains, but he refuses to use them.
a year from now, he'll have to pass written tests from Hungarian and Math and he'll have an oral English exam, too. the system will check his marks from Hungarian, Math, English, History at the end of the 14th semester (end of 7th grade) and at the 15th semester (halfway at the 8th grade). we are gathering points. the race is tough to get into highschool.
it seems that he has not learned how to learn.
we were too busy accommodating him to all those various schools he attended.
we were busy surviving in various conditions.
i don't know if it's too late or not, but i'll do my best to help him.
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my daughter likes to play the dumb, which is she not. she's very slow, but can sparkle. she's fine in all subjects. she's in the 3rd grade now, which means that next January she's going to write exams from Hungarian and Math to get into a secondary school/highschool.
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for those, who are unfamiliar with the education system in Hungary, here's a short review:
all kids must go to a preschool at the year preceding their first year of school education.
kids start school at the age between 6-7. some kids start at 6 sharp, some as late as 7.5. parents have the right to decide on the right time. parents are supported by the preschool nurses, and by various consellors in making the right decision about the *when*.
once a kid gets into elementary school, he can stay there for 8 years. that's the maximum amount of elementary education.
secondary education may start after grades 4, 6 and 8.
as you have guessed, secondary education lasts either for 8, 6 or 4 years, resp.
secondary education finishes around the age of 18 and the not-so-kids with the high school diploma (GCE) can head to obtain BSc, MSc, or some other, technical qualifications in universities, or in specialized schools.
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on the writing front:
i am quite unsatisfied with the writers' group I joined a year or so ago. here's my rant.
at the moment I have some ideas in my head, but it's all in a haze. as if I haven't decided which should go first.
but for most of the time, my mind is occupied by fragments like 'the novel, belonging to the epic genre, where...' (excerpt from my son's Hungarian book); or 'the revolution failed in 1849 and all generals were executed on ....' (quote from his History book); and pieces of arguments like 'you have to learn more so that you have more options to choose from'; and 'there's not enough time now for watching a movie, because I have't seen your math yet'; and 'please let us review this passage again'; and 'I know you are not interested, but...'; or 'I want you to reach your highest potential' and so on....
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but apart from that, be assured I read your blogs, which are definitely more interesting than mine these times.... and i trust one day the muse hits again... she just doesn't find the way into my dense mind :))))
I do try to find some time to read, though. i hope it helps.
4 megjegyzés:
Our education system is very different from yours. All students are required to go to school from the age of 5 to 16. At five, they enter kindergarten, then first through twelfth grades. They may leave school at the age of 16, but that's considered "dropping out" and frowned upon by our society. If they graduate from twelfth grade (secondary school), they may go to a college or university or technical school. In my state, we encourage all children to obtain some post-secondary eduction or training. Students typically have to take exams to be admitted to colleges and universities.
As for writing, life interferes. I just read a comment made by a writer who said, basically, that we write because we can't help ourselves. We must. I think that's true, but sometimes we have to stop and just breathe a while...
As we say, "hang in there!"
Karen,
school is obligatory for the age of 16 here in Hungary as well.
in fact I find it quite nerving. for the good students do stay in school up to the age of 18. at that age, at the end of their 12th grade, they finish their high school....right? there's no need to press them to stay in school...'cause they stay in school. no matter what they get the GCE.
but the bad ones...
they drop out, and are taken back again... my son, at the age of 11, had more than one overaged classmates in his former school. those students failed at the tests and went to to 6th grade again. some of these guys were 16.
there is no use in educating those who reject all sorts of school system.
the good students suffer b/c they are agressive. the teachers can not cope with their behaviour, which is also a bad example for the rest of the class.
also, I see a very unfortunate trend these years: most kids are encouraged to get into a university. this results in universities filled with students that are not suitable for high education. technical schools are kind of empty however and the country is lacking good craftsmen and technicians.
everyone, even those who can't read properly* wants a BSc or an MSc, but once he gets the paper he is unable to use it.
I find it stupid that the value of technical schools has dropped. it's a shame.
*my husband teaches at a university. a few years ago he had a student who was unable to read. the student claimed he had dyslexia and wanted a remedy for his bad marks. bullsh.t.
i think this student would have made a brilliant 'lower-case' technician, or a farmer. now he suffers all the way at a place he's not fitting into.
such cases are frequent these days.
SzelsoFa - It is exactly the same here. The only difference is that those students who fail are usually passed on to the next grade in order that we don't have older students with the younger.
I, too, find the push for obtaining a college education unrealistic and unfair for many. As in the case of your husband's former student, we here provide every sort of service to assist students who probably should have chosen a different path. I believe it is the unrealistic expectations of families and the society in general that we do not respect the trades as we should. It's very sad.
Karen,
if you have any ideas or know of any solutions as to this specific problem, please let me know. i am no policymaker, and my voice is not really heard at all, so i think one must act at the highest level attainable. like organizing events to get kids know more about the trades or... i don't know. i'm afraid the trend will not be reversed in the foreseeable future unless some really shocking events happen - but i don't want that either.
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