Children should be taught to enjoy knowledge, not drilled in subjects

It would seem that specialized schools should help a child with a profession. But aren't they simply leaving him without a choice?
Anna ANDRONOVA, writer, Nizhny Novgorod

There is an opinion that a child should be taken to primary school “to become a teacher”, and then transferred to a higher level. To a school that will provide some specific, in-depth knowledge. Or wait until the ninth, and then decide again, already having a university in mind. It is possible to translate, but not all children find it easy. The programs are different everywhere, starting from the first grade. Special textbooks, methods and material delivery system. Sometimes, already in preparatory courses, children study from books, which will then logically continue with the sets of elementary, middle and higher levels. You can imagine what a burden it is for a child to change schools, even if the level remains the same. Or should we not change anything? From the tender age of 4 , identify and consolidate your child’s inclinations, technical or humanitarian, and not make mistakes.

There are almost 10 percent of specialized secondary educational institutions in our country. Not counting those schools that, by introducing additional, sometimes unusual subjects, strive to acquire the coveted status of “elite” education. They provide career guidance and organize special classes—economics, legal, and so on according to the list of business professions. They recruit there based on competition or the desire of older students. It is difficult to say whether fragmentary knowledge of jurisprudence and management will help them in the future. And how high quality they are.

Traditional special schools—physics, mathematics and linguistics. Now technical and medical ones have also appeared. All of them are supported in one way or another by certain universities and scientific institutions. Institute teachers give lectures, conduct clubs and special courses. For high school students, scientific societies and educational centers are created that purposefully prepare children for a specific faculty, graduate school, and then into the adult scientific world. Language courses provide the opportunity, for example, to take high-level international language exams, study and work abroad without experiencing translation difficulties.

In my opinion, it is the special schools of the natural sciences that still provide knowledge that can generally be called education. Most of them were organized during the Soviet years, have long-standing traditions, an established team of teachers, and have maintained and developed connections with universities and research centers.

I once graduated from a school with in-depth study of the English language. I entered medical school after studying with a tutor for only one month. And I didn’t learn anything fundamentally new from the tutor. We mastered the language decently, plus technical translation and English literature, but all the usual subjects were also present. Only a few of our graduates went to the Institute of Foreign Languages. Polytechnic, university, medical. We did not experience any horror before passing mathematics and chemistry. Then. Now from my former school, which has become a humanitarian gymnasium, it is impossible to enroll anywhere other than Foreign Languages. Physics in 11th grade once a week and only for the first half of the year. A lot of additional subjects that steal time from the main disciplines and language. I did not find any clear documents regulating the mandatory number of subjects and hours in special schools. There is no point in downloading rights and complaining here. Don't like this school? Go to the next one. Or hire tutors.

In general, the institution of tutoring has developed so much that it now has its own educational significance. This is a fairly high-quality home education in any subject that complements or complements the school curriculum. It also camouflages parental laziness and inattention.

But sometimes a tutor is a necessary measure. The child studied for 9 years at a language gymnasium, and in the 10th year he suddenly decided to become a doctor. Or enter the journalism department after a technical lyceum, where it’s all chemistry and geometry with algebra, and they turn a blind eye to essays copied from templates. You will have to study long and hard in order to fill the gaps in the necessary knowledge in one or two years. It’s hard and expensive, not everyone can handle it.

Although my children are more “lyrical” than “technical”, I sent them to the physics and mathematics lyceum. I consider the program of this school to be the most complete and high-quality. Exact sciences are taught at a good level, computer science and computer equipment are strong. Literature and the Russian language—in full. The first history exam is in 6th grade. Children enter different universities, not only technical faculties. And the main thing, what I consider the main thing now for any school, is that it is prestigious to study well here. It’s cool to participate in Olympiads and win, but excellent students are not considered “nerds.” In times of a pandemic of parties, gloss and general “entertainment”, it has become more important than ever to maintain children’s desire to gain knowledge. I don’t think that my sons will be outstanding physicists, but I hope that the school will be able to teach them how to study, support their interest in a particular discipline, and help them choose a profession.

Whether schools should train narrow specialists is a controversial issue. But it must provide real knowledge, ideas about the diversity of scientific fields, support non-standard thinking, identify and develop the talents of children, and differentiate them in some way according to their abilities and inclinations.

Photo by VASILY MAKSIMOV

School - “special offer”