We've known for a long time that investment in education pays off handsomely for society and individuals, but like any investment, it's subject to the law of diminishing returns. Educate, yes, but how and to what extent? A literate population represents net worth. If, in addition, they have basic knowledge in several fields, they can cope with more situations, progress, specialize and so on. All advantages.
But whether it's the amount of money, technology, textbooks or the number of teachers, there comes a point where adding more becomes less and less effective. A blackboard in the classroom is progress, an electronic blackboard too, a virtual reality headset, perhaps, but in proportion to the investment, much less so.
Students have 24 hours in the day, and we can't indefinitely compress more information and activities into the same amount of time. By being more efficient, studies can be organized differently and better integrated into other activities, such as work. There's something more efficient than 6 hours a day on a school bench; adding even more hours of study doesn't bring any gains, on the contrary.
Obtaining a grade attests to an evaluation, but demonstrating a skill brings the assurance of a result; you can give a concrete account of your education. When a training activity brings about a positive change in a statistic or production, we know that it has achieved part of its goals. If it only aims to achieve an academic target, its significance for the individual and society diminishes accordingly. The value of school assessment should above all be pedagogical.
Classes of 50 students are not as effective as classes of 30 - this is generally accepted, if only because of the attention given to each individual. Perhaps the optimum is 19 students or 12? But in a context of teacher shortage, the solutions necessarily lie more in the area of teaching methods and organization. We can teach and assess differently and more effectively.
Individuals, institutions, companies and the State have a right to an account of the results of their investment of money, time and effort in education, and all have a responsibility to be accountable to those who contribute to education.
Denys Lamontagne - [email protected]
Illustration: ronnarong - DepositPhotos
