It is too early to objectively assess the 12-year schooling term, as well as some other innovations. There seems to be, at first glance, not much difference, just a mere formality. Yet the situation is much more important, as it may close the doors of European educational institutions to our citizens. European countries have already introduced or are introducing this model of studies. 12 years of education is a prerequisite for being admitted to a higher educational institution. Returning from Prague, I saw Ukrainian school leavers forced to retake a secondary school final test because of study term discrepancies, and this was to be done in Czech. The same problems occur in Italy that our compatriots love so much. Is it reasonable to hold on to some oddity if this hampers our rapprochement with Europe?
It seems that the curriculum should increase gradually as one pursues the road of education. Six-year-olds should attend not so much a school as a combination of school, kindergarten and play group, where pupils learn the ABCs of living together, learning and discipline. There are serious complaints about our curricula, especially in the natural sciences, which are overloaded with terminology, mind-boggling calculations, and unnecessary theoretical knowledge. There was a time when children liked geography and biology. Now they fear them. Little wonder as even six-graders are forced to brush up on heterotrophic organs and say “cuprum” instead of “copper.” It is leapfrogging from topic to topic and all kinds of tests almost every month. It is not study and discussion, rather winnowing out those of low endurance.
Those who fail in the selection include gifted and intelligent people. They require different approaches, perhaps even repeated study of one or two topics. But the schools remain oblivious or impotent. Formalism holds sway in education. Reports, log books, and blanks are now as habitual in schools as they are in an accounting bureau. Can you imagine: during the outbreak of swine flu, homeroom teachers were told to keep a record of pupils’ body temperatures! There should be no return to the ten-year, eight-year or the even more “nostalgic” seven-year school.
