In most western, civilized countries, education is compulsory. Children are expected to attend school until recaching a certain age, most often 16, before they can themselves choose to no longer attend. The thinking behind compulsory education is twofold - to ensure that a child is not deprived of the opportunity to gain knowledge, and secondly, to provide the state with educated citizen who will contribute in an increasingly demanding work-force where knowledge more often than innate ability plays a decisive role.

Gone are the days when farm children attended class for three years, then were withdrawn from school by their parents so that the offspring could work full-time at agrarian pursuit. Gone are the Oliver Twists, the street urchins abandoned by their parents, left to fend for themselves by hook or crook, relying on their wits for survival. Sadly, however, this is only the case in western democracies. It has been estimated that there are tens of millions of children in Africa, South America and Asia who either lack access to education entirely, or receive only the rudimentary basics because of economic constraints, lack of infrastructure, a dearth of educators.

In Canada that is hardly a problem. What is a problem is the growing dissatisfaction experienced by parents, as educators and bureaucrats face off and tussle over financing. The vast majority of teachers are dedicated professionals, who only naturally wish to be compensated at what they feel is a normal, market rate.

Inefficiency in the bureaucracy, in Ontario’s case a draconian Tory government that only looks at the bottom line, and associated issues have brought about a situation where nobody is happy, least of all the parents, who have every right to expect a quality, imparttial and fair education for their children. One that they subsidize through their taxes.

Quite naturally, those that can afford it are turning to the private system. However, that is a choice available only for the upper crust. Last week, the Toronto Star included a copy of a glossy magazine - “The essential guide to private education: Our kids go to school” - with one of its issues. It was a guide to more than175 private schools across the country, full of large ads and information about the curriculum, the histories of the schools, and of course tutition fees. The magazine was evidently entirely paud for by the advertising schools.

Tuition at these private schools seemed to average $10,000 per year (non boarding). These are post-tax dollars, paid on top of local property taxes that fund public education. For a family with more than one child a considerable income is necessary to even consider this alternative. For the vast majority, the middle class, this is simply not an option.

In the public sphere, with programs being cut, more and more responsibility is being put on the parents. Which simply is not the way the system is supposed to work. While all are willing to help their offspring with homework, the amounts assigned these days boggle the mind.

Consider: in Saturday’s Star the mother of an 8-year old wrote that, barely had the school year started than her son was receiving incredible amounts of homework, much of it seemingly not considering the age of the child. Some nights this 8 year old had two hours of homework, among assignments was to write an eight stanza rhyming poem. How many eight-year olds do you know that are capable of sitting still for that long, filling that task? And this, naturally after a full day at school. When are these children supposed to have a break, enjoy their childhood?

This is common. Most parents are overwhelmed by the amount of homework assigned at the elementary level. For those who belong to an ethnic community like Estonian Canadians, who wish to expose their children to their heritage, the burden becomes even greater. Add Guiding and Scouting to the list, hobbies, and it is no wonder that many people list stress as their primary health concern. There simply are not enough hours in a week to follow this regimen.

Some teachers encourage independence by assigning homework. In the case of others, it sometimes seems that they are passing the responsibility of teaching on to the parents. Kids come home not knowing the difference between adjective and adverb, a split infinitive or gerund. Surely, it should be the teacher who should provide the foundation, parents should be expected to provide the support and occasional assistance needed to do homework.

The other growing demand on parents is that they are expected to volunteer. Many would like to help out. But when they realize that they are supporting programs cut by the government with their own, valuable time, helping out with fund-raisers and the like, a degree of resentment is only natural.

Why then, cannot the unions and governments get their acts together? Are we all not aware that a quality education is the secret to a successful, productive adulthood? What is going wrong? Answers, ot “funding system excuses” please. Parents can only do so much.

On a final note - school is socially difficult as well. Episodes of hazing, bullying, ostracization are becoming more common in this environment. An example from southern Estonia - a 14-year old girl has been missing for more than a week after being bullied by classmates. She left the school under what can only be imagined to have been serious mental duress, her whereabouts are as of this writing not known. This example serves to show how the system, as it is in place, either in Canada or Estonia, should be given an unsatisfactory grade. School should be a caring, nurturing place, preparing our fledglings for flight into the wonderful blue yonder.

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