I have experienced many education systems, from studying in India to the IGCSEs in UWC. Each one has offered me something different, something common, and something that I would change.
One thing that I think puts the education in UWC above India is their open-mindedness. There, the main point of focus was academics. For the rest of the students, such as those who were active, got the chance to take part in sports and inter-school competitions. However, academics was all that mattered. The duration of the PE lessons every week was an hour in total. Keeping us packed in classrooms created a confined environment, different to what the term “education” really means to me. Here at UWC, I think that there has been an important focus on academics. But this hasn’t led our school to forget that education holds a broader meaning, including sports and outdoor activities rather than just academics. In fact, this school considers that there are 5 components to education: Activities, Service, Personal and Social Education, Outdoor Education, and Academics.
Another positive aspect of the education system in UWC compared to India is how it has a compulsory adventure excursion every year. In my school in India, we had the opportunity to go on many interesting trips all around the large country. But the difference was that all of them were optional, leading to only a handful of people from every class being able to go on it. I think the outdoor education trips in UWC help build a sense of connection between everyone in the class which doesn't break easily. Our trips in India would lead to fragile relationships, which would get divided due to students being in different classes. So, they might not always be able to appreciate it since they weren’t long-lasting. As well as this, our best friends often weren’t on the same trips for multiple reasons. It could make the excursion slightly awkward if one is more of an introvert or might not know many people on the trip. I think that education involves taking everyone along together, as one gets to know people and enjoy the less-experienced aspects of living, outside our urban, and study-dominated life.
I do think that this school offers us many different paths in life and has helped reassert the true meaning of education. However, I think that one thing I got more in India was the level of opportunities to participate in things just outside of what every student did in school. It’s not that we don’t have opportunities in UWC. But maybe they aren’t as transparent and easily accessible to each one of us. Even when we do know about the opportunities, I think that often there may not be enough encouragement or reward for taking part. In India, when an opportunity such as maths competitions or any other sports competitions would be announced, anyone who received ranks in the top three would receive a medal in front of the whole grade. This might cause slight disappointment in those who participated but did not win. But, given my experience, I think that ultimately it promotes encouragement rather than despondency. There are those among us who have the capability to take part in such competitions or activities and perform well in them, but sometimes they don’t have the incentive to participate.
Nonetheless, UWC is getting where I think it is important to be in terms of education and how students are supposed to be educated. This system values all kinds of skills, with a wide range of abilities being generally awarded. I think that this is where all education systems should aim to reach, improving one thing at a time.
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