To think the school system is ridiculous

[Suflan]

This post is talking about the school system in the republic of Ireland, but I know that the school system in the UK has some similiatites, so this is also relevant to people in the UK.

I went to school in Ireland a long time ago, 20 years ago.

My younger cousins are just sitting their school leaving certificate (irish equivalent to a levels) this year and they and their friends have been posting about the exams, after it happened, on social media.

I was just thinking what they learn and do exams on is such a load of shite. Like how is it relevant or necessary in todays world at all.

They posted about their maths paper, all the quadratic equations, prove that point 5,1 is on the line etc etc, extremely complicated equations, and algebra.

Like what do you need that for in life? Its so totally pointless. And maths is mandatory to do, so they need points from maths to get into University.

Like what is the point of learning these things. Surely they should be learning something useful. My cousins have said to me that they think that a lot of what they learn is totally pointless too

Given kids struggle to reason or think logically because we live in a world which wipes their arse at every turn I'd say we have more of a reason for that to be taught but it isnt. Parents do kids a disservice these days.

If algebra is useless then they could never go in a car or a plane, or use a computer. I think saying algebra is useless is like saying having an alphabet is useless.

Oh I read it and they went on about quadratic equations which is certainly not A level maths. It is primary school maths! Equations are taught in Y1 upwards. Quadratics are Y5 upwards.

A lack of mathematical skills holds people back. Unlike other subjects it is also very hard to pick up later in life. It doesnt help when people "boast" about how poor they are at it.

Yep so they are the 6th form. One near me has a 6th form building. There is the school in one building and the 6th form in another. It usually happens like that. They are usually called X high school and 6th form.

No, this is what the OP said:

My younger cousins are just sitting their school leaving certificate (irish equivalent to A levels)

Well, a teenager's opinion about relevant job skills is probably not very valid, considering they don't have any experience of actually working beyond a possible holiday job.

For example, I hated learning French at school, it was my least favourite subject and one I put very little effort into. Now I work somewhere where I need to use French everyday. Clearly, my teenage self was wrong.

How old are you, OP? You sound quite young?

What careers use algebra?

Pilots, engineers, economists, analysts just off the top of my head. Yes in lots of cases is would be basic algebra but would still need to have a high fundamental understanding

it’s not learning the specifics in the leaving cert, it’s the ability to retain information as this is applicable to further education and how you will learn and retain down the road. No good studying to become an anesthetiogist who needs to calculate flow rates, drug doses etc based on patients weights if you can’t comprehend basic maths

Wow, just wow, the ignorance. Spoken like someone with no education.

In addition to the usual maths, I would like to see more Statistics taught and used. All government departments are using stats to try and convince us that their policy is working. We need to be able to challenge them more.
We already think that half of them are useless. But which 50%?

Hairdressing used to be seen as a job for less academic girls when I was at school.
There is a lot of maths in mixing colours, timing etc. Booking clients for best use of time is an artform. Chair rental, payroll, taxes, banking, invoicing, cash flow, stock orders, utilities...lots of maths.

And the plane is in the air due to, in part, imaginary numbers.

But without the underlying knowledge how do you create and app. And if you are the end user how do you know the app is correct?

There are lots of "skills" used by people in their jobs that aren't taught at school. Most training is done via additional/professional exams or other work based training. If algebra wasn't taught in schools, it WOULD be taught at university or during professional/work place training where required. Most things are done that way. I'm an accountant. I wasn't taught about tax at school, I was taught it at work and during professional training exams. Engineering could be the same. I'm not saying no algebra should be taught in school, but perhaps it should be at a simpler, more accessible level for everyone, and not the more complex stuff that 99% of the pupils will never need again. And for even those who do need it again, it'll be taught at University or professional exam training.

Well to be pedantic most of that is basic numeracy/arithmetic rather than maths. Primary school level maths is probably adequate for "day to day" stuff like that, as it doesn't involve algebra, trigonometry, area of a sphere, indices, etc.

I agree, the only "Maths" that I think should be taught to a high level in schools is statistics and probability, as both disciplines are highly relevant to the real world, such as in your example of politics.

You could have learned French as an adult. What would have happened if your job involved Spanish, or Mandarin - you'd have had to learn enough to get you through.

Respectfully, OP, you sound like an unusually limited person. And I say that as someone who went through the Irish school system and did two degrees in Irish universities, then two further degrees in UK universities, has taught in both Irish and UK universities, and has had a child in the school system in England and Ireland.

Algebra is basic…it’s essential for figuring out missing quantities and IS used in daily life!!

I love mathematics, and use higher level maths concepts every day (just not explicitly).

I cannot think of any faster way to destroy an interest in learning than to be taught maths at a level too low. It would be excruciating.

You need to understand thing like rate of change to understand politics and other big issues.

What rubbish. “Parents today” are not all doing their kids a disservice! What a sweeping statement. (You’ve always had feckless parents, throughout history, that’s true but to make out today’s parents are somehow worse in general is typical of an older person with their rose tinted glasses on).

What IS doing kids a disservice is the education system which is not equipping our young people for the modern digital world. It is still harking back to a pre digital world. If you want to criticize someone for ‘wiping kids arses’ as you so eloquently put it, blame the system which spoon feeds kids to pass tests, does not encourage using own initiative, flexibility, critical thinking, self direction, growth mindset, creativity or innovation, collaboration, teamwork, entrepreneurial skills not to mention practical life skills.

How do you know if there was a typo when you keyed the values in?

What about if you've got less left than you expected and need to work back to see if somebody's given them 10x too much (or 1000x too much) and it's now a medical emergency? If you know the formula, you can rearrange it. If you've been prevented from learning to use algebra because some random who didn't like long division in primary decided you didn't need to be taught it, theres far greater risks from just blindly typing stuff in with no concept of what's going on.

I kinda agree with you @Pleaseshutthefuckup however Are kids still learning about the Bolsheviks? Who gives a crap.
What happened as a result of Bolsheviks is linked directly to Putin & his current war in Ukraine, which, you’d agree, affected us all - energy and food price increase, rise of ultra-right politics etc

Same re Why do I give a shit who wears what religious garment? I don't have any interest and most young people don't care either.
Surely you’d want your daughter to learn that in some countries women have to wear niqab, can’t go outside etc

And many other examples of (un)important things taught in school that relate directly to current topics - e.g. no, humans cannot change biological sex (biology), no, Boris, we don’t send the EU £350 mln a week (maths & statistics); no, the Earth is not flat (geography & physics) etc.

That's wrong.

I work in a school in England, and there are students doing their A- levels in this school.

They are in the same building as GCSE students.