Why Are We Still Finding X?

Part of my job as a youth worker means that I get to visit classrooms and schools, and I’ve been privy to seeing some of the things that secondary school students are still learning in 2022 in the UK (as well as in Nigeria where I grew up).

Many of them are things I learned myself back in school many years ago, and yet, even as an adult, I have not seen how they have helped me in real life.

Some of these formulas that students are being taught to memorize are the same formulas that probably, our parents were taught back then. Algebra, almighty formulas, and the rest…

But how does it help?

Children spend a large percentage of their lives in school. Their formative years are spent in school.

But wouldn’t it have made more sense if they learned about real-life issues and got prepped for the realities they’d face as they grow up?

– Shouldn’t students be instead learning about taxes?

– About how to save and budget,

– About mortgage,

– Debt,

– career

And all this other real-life stuff?

Why are we still “finding x” in 2022?

What will we do with all these formulas that we’ve crammed?

Isn’t that such an archaic thing to be learning in 2022?

I can’t remember any of the formulas I was taught in school. I don’t even see the benefits of learning them or how I can use them in real life.

I think it is high time the education system is reformed!

Back in school we were taught there are 7 planets on earth, but over the years that has changed following the discovery of new planets.

If science has evolved over the years, then isn’t this enough justification that the education system could also use a facelift?

We can’t continue solving formulas discovered by scientists from ages ago, which are obviously no longer relevant to our real-life experiences and our current realities.

Stop finding x!

What are your thoughts?