May 24

On May 24, Bulgaria celebrated, as it does every year on that day, brothers Kiril and Methodiy, the creators of the Cyrillic alphabet. This is also the day of the Bulgarian education, culture, and Slavic Literature. When I was growing up, this was one of the most valued holidays and every school participated in a grand parade in appreciation of the event. After all, it is a special day for students and teachers and highlights the importance of language, education, and literature for the identity of a people. 

Personally, I think that each country should celebrate education, literacy, and language, maybe not on one particular day, but every day. Somehow we have reached a period in time when education is devalued, misunderstood, or taken for granted. Having access to an avalanche of information is considered sufficient for the attainment of education. The quality of the sources and the information itself, however, is often a significant blow on anyone’s opportunity to learn something valuable. 

Further, according to UNICEF, "Nearly a billion people will enter the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names and two thirds of them are women." The problem with that number is that these are not always people from underdeveloped nations who have no access to schools or educational materials. In addition, the ability to physically be able to look at a written segment and pronounce the words out loud is not what I consider being able to read. Many people not included in the UNICEF statistic cited above are indeed able to read the words, whether on paper or on a computer screen, but the skill to analyze, interpret, and evaluate is often missing. 

Additional sources on the fight against illiteracy and on critical thinking:

Get Caught Reading

  

Global Literacy Campaign

The Critical Thinking Community

And before I sign off, here is the alphabet that is the reason for the May 24 holiday in Bulgaria.

-       Krasi

The Right to Education

      Another discussion in the International Human Rights Law class made me ask an important question and add my own thoughts to it. And since you all are lucky, you get to read it!               

      What exactly does it mean to have the right to education or the right to work? I would think that the right to education entails the access to and opportunities for obtaining an education. However, it should not imply a successful completion of coursework (the right to a certain grade) or an actual degree. I am afraid that there is a misunderstanding in certain parts of the contemporary world between the idea of a right to the opportunity and access to good education and obtaining an actual degree. I do not want to make the statement that to be entitled to a right a person must perform some duties. However, if there is an access and an opportunity to obtain education, the person who does not complete the work necessary to obtain that education should not demand the degree. The right to education is the right to have education that is available, accessible, acceptable, and adaptable; it is not the right to obtain good grades by any means and receive a diploma. 

         

                - Krasi

On the Importance of Writing

I recently came across an article written by Michael Munger and published in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The content focuses on the topic of non-fiction writing and why so many are so bad at it. Enjoying writing myself, I thought it clever and right on the money to consider creating such an article. The 10 tips on how to write less badly are most certainly great points that I think many should pay attention to. 

The fact is, whether we enjoy it or not, writing is a part of our everyday lives and is a major aspect of communicating with each other. It is constantly surprising to me how many believe that unless you are going to write a book, you really do not need to be that good at writing. And those who think and believe that, become bad at it. I notice the lack of this skill every day at work. The larger part of my job consists of communicating with students via email. In addition, I also enjoy being a writing tutor and this certainly gives me the opportunity to see some bad student writing. Not all is bad, but most is. And it is bad not because the students really can’t learn to write, but because they don’t think it is an important enough skill to learn. It is simply amazing to find out on a regular basis that many are under the impression that writing is a talent: one is either born with it or not. Which is probably true in terms of coming up with the story, the creative idea, the characters that will captivate an audience. But Munger’s article doesn’t discuss this part of the writing process. The author stresses nonfiction writing, the writing we all have to do in school or at work. This aspect of writing can be acquired, can be customized and most importantly, can become less bad.  

I agree with the 10 tips Munger has provided and as far as I am concerned, they will be pinned to my wall so that I can read them every day and remind myself that the writing skill takes effort and practice; it does not appear from thin air. 

- Krasi

The true cost of education

To say that the education system in the US is a contentious issue is an understatement.  One aspect most people seem to agree on is that education is expensive and that quality education is really, really expensive. Following this reasoning, one would assume that the more money an educational institution receives, the better educated the students in that institution will be. Yes, but not quite. If only we lived in a world where things made sense and logic was … logical? A special edition of 20/20 revealed that an Olympic size pool and a computer for each student only helped the students in a Kentucky High School obtain a lower grade average. More funds and resources than ever are poured into the education system to improve schools, to provide access to computers, facilities and materials for each child. We now have more portals through which information could be obtained than ever before. The goal is to produce educated youth. When students come out of high schools, however, and are not able to spell ‘education’ or write a complete sentence about it, was all the money spent really worth it? Not to mention that despite the lack of basic knowledge in English, science, and reading, students are somehow making it to college where more money is spent to provide many of them with developmental math and writing courses so they can catch up on skills that 12 years of schooling didn’t teach them. The way I see it, what’s pricier than the education these kids receive is the fact that most appear to receive no education at all for all the money spent.  So is money really the problem? 

- Krasi