First of all, I would like to apologize for my long absence for the last few months. School has been extremely busy and painful, but nonetheless, it was no excuse for not occasionally updating the blog. I will make it a priority of mine to post up at least one blog once a week.
So on topic now,
Canada is a country of the wealthy, we're abundant in many aspects:
- 3rd country with the most fresh water
- 9.6 people/square kilometre
- minimum wage ranges of $9-$10.25
But...
When it comes to high school education when compared to the U.S, ours seem to lack many qualities. One of them would be universal high school testing. For example, in United States, SAT is an entrance exam that is owned by College Board, a non-profit organization. This test allows all students, despite the teaching methods, grading schemes of their teachers to be tested on an equal level.
Canada on the other hand, has long talked about a similar grading system, but has never actually imposed it. Here, it depends on the grades that the students receive at the end of grade 12. This can be extremely difficult as well as biased because of the different standards of education throughout Canada. Personally, I have known people who switch from great high schools to not-so-great ones during their twelfth year just to ensure they are able to maintain a good average that gets them a spot in their desired university.
Another problem would be the two kinds of high schools, term and semester. Term high schools carry out all eight subjects at the same time throughout the whole year.A schedule goes with the school year, split into 'days', which in turn then alternates during the week, the workload is often much heavier. Semester schools repeat the same classes everyday from September to January, and from January and June.During the end of each period, there are exams and summatives.
The semester system may have flaws when considering long term effectiveness. But in the context of grades for university and college entry, it may be the easier way out. Is it fair that two methods should be used in the country?
