Raisint Academic Standards.

Raising academic standards will benefit post-secondary students. The academic system promotes laziness by allowing success with little effort and work ethic. “Many schools do not allow teachers to deduct marks for late assignments or academic dishonesty and make it almost impossible to assign zeroes for incomplete work”. This absence of punishment guarantees students will continue to complete assignments with mediocre standards and horrible time management skills. The lack of repercussions does not encourage the completion of homework or projects; it acts more as a patronizing guide through high school without preparing them whatsoever to learn on their own. High school students are rewarded for underachieving and guaranteed to be overwhelmed later in post-secondary. In order to succeed in university, assignments must be on time, and it is rare they are accepted late. In university, academic dishonesty, or plagiarism, results in expulsion. “The problem begins in the early grades where social promotion - the practice of passing students to the next grade regardless of their academic achievement, is commonplace across the country.” Students leave unprepared for the workload university encompasses, and are so misled as to register for courses far beyond what high school has left them capable. Students often drop out of university within the first year because of the lack of knowledge and skills to succeed. “Using data from statistics Canada, the Persistence in Post-Secondary Education in Canada report found about 14 per cent of university students drop out in their first year”. The students are left unprepared for the glimpse of reality realized once post-secondary education begins, and by then it will be too late, as they will have paid thousands of dollars in entry fees. As we lower expectations in secondary schooling, universities’ standards remain absolute. The faulty curriculum ensures empty success in high school and certain failure beyond.