one of my nephews has to go for an entrance exam to get into a top-tier government-funded primary school.
ridiculous. i pay my fucking taxes so that we have a system of public education for all, not this multi-tier bullshit where people who can afford to go to the nicest places get the best education
I'm the byproduct of private education — I spent secondary education in a private school, before going to self-funded private tertiary education, and I'll tell you this — the stuff that you can throw money at, for rich affluent fuckers like me, is like the least important thing to ensuring that we don't end up being destructive fucks.
like, funding or no, we'll get educated. whether we end up being educated to being those who bring destruction upon this world is what's more important.
like the first lesson that kids ought to learn when they start interacting with society is that it didn't fucking matter what school you went into, what you achieved academically, or what “merit” you accumulated, you're a piece of shit if you treat people like shit. even more so if you had all that privilege and all you do is shit on people who don't.
ps “meritocracy” was a term coined by Michael Young in a satire that demolishes the fact that if you select the ruling classes based on “merit” (he used the term “IQ + effort” as his criteria, but it could be anything innate and extrinsic) what you'll get is a bunch of entitled assholes who'll stop at nothing to reward themselves at the expense of others. sound familiar?
that's right I'm dissing Singapore but i see that shit replicated in the activist, NGO and corporate environments in this country. because “merit” translates to “how useful you are to global capitalism” these days and even the human-rights and NGO-industrial crowd all can't see beyond their ass. meanwhile wages stagnate and it gets harder for working-class people to make a living in an increasingly-dehumanising labour market. while everyone bends over to the great god Eff Dee Ai.
meanwhile indigenous peoples in the so-called state that is ruled by the so called party of Defending Islam get their lands sold to loggers and their children abused up to the point that they're willing to run away from RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS and literally STARVE TO DEATH rather then go back???
party leadership semua orang kaya. فَوَيْلٌ لِّلْمُصَلِّينَ
if there's one thing that I've learned about being subjected to private education is that the incentive landscape between institution and student.
you're a source of revenue when you send your kids to private schools. remember that.
@tariqk eh, being in the Government school system I found that they only cared about you as a source of As. Nothing more.
@creatrixtiara EYYYY, HI TIARA
yes! and you think that changes when you go private?
@creatrixtiara oh, they're not right *now*. but it's on the realm of possibility there, because, *in theory*, it ought to serve democratic goals.
the market doesn't. that's why it's regulated.
@tariqk "realm of possibility" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
AS FUCKING IF
pleaselah. my school was happy that one of my classmates left due to mental health issues because "oh she wouldn't bring our SPM statistics down". When I ran EducateDeviate I heard from so many Gov school kids who heard very similar messaging from their schools.
"in theory" is meaningless. The reality is public schools are not and never will be any better at this.
@creatrixtiara then don't expect private education to do the same.
I'm saying that. what's in the realm of possibility in public education is NOT in private education.
@tariqk eh, I've had better experiences with private ed because at least they weren't trying to kick me out over visas
i'm not "expecting" anything from anyone, I'm saying that you have a very VERY blinkered view of public ed that might as well come from Narnia because it's in the realm of mythological.
@creatrixtiara you're making assumptions about what i believe about public schools
please note that child numero uno is coming to the age of primary schooling. I'm already at the stage where I'm having to deal with the ministry of education, because of reasons.
I'm comparing and contrasting how it's happening with parents of my peer group, who have gone through some other things as well.
the options are actually bad all around.
@tariqk I don't see why me pointing out the flaws in your thinking about public schools means I'm necessarily saying private schools are any better?
@creatrixtiara this thread literally began with me complaining about what a public school is doing. like, it's not great now. quite the opposite.
I'm not saying it's better. I'm saying it could be better. It HAS to be better.
@tariqk "has" to be better, but it's not, and frankly never will be unless there is a significant, drastic, history-altering change.
@creatrixtiara yes. and?
@tariqk and that's that. i'm not the one making any commentary about private schools, you're the one that keeps insisting i have opinions about it because that's the main thing you respond with whenever i say public schools aren't and never will be any better.
@creatrixtiara and that's the problem with what i have on your argument.
it's this:
“public schools aren't better, they're never going to get better.”
then die lor. why talk? habis cerita.
what to do, then? what options are available? nothing.
it sounds like a counsel for nihilism. which... you might be right, but there's the end of the argument. and?
@tariqk well, not necessarily, I'm mostly saying that public schools aren't some sort of bastion of equality either just because money isn't the deciding factor
(eyyyyyy)