Out with the old, in with the new

Photo courtesy of Kayla Mutchler

Fanned-out one-dollar bills, West Haven.

Satire

I have never been more thankful for the continual rise in academic tuition prices.

It is bold of us to allow ourselves to be embraced with a lifetime of debt for the useless education we are receiving. That being said, I applaud us; we did it, guys. We finally learned what it means to be an adult.

As universities celebrate their milestones across the world, they use their “achievements” as an excuse to increase tuition. However, what they don’t notice is that their education system is actually collapsing.

Students are being conned by their professors and for that very reason, I don’t blame them for putting a minimal amount of effort into their coursework. Professors are careless with their teaching techniques and lazy with their lesson plans. Many of them can’t lead a class if their life depended on it. This leaves us to ask the question: “Why are they even there in the first place? To sign off spontaneous grades at the end of a semester?”

We should no longer be tolerating these actions. There is no need to hire teachers anymore. Students should teach classes instead.

Learning from our peers mutually benefits one another’s understanding of academic material. Conversations deepen previous perspectives and knowledge, while also challenging us to make appropriate adjustments to strive in our learning environments.

There is a chance that student teaching can also create healthy competition between classmates. Competition prioritizes the importance of teamwork, enhances social skills, growth mindsets and confidence. Overall, it drives us to put our best foot forward.

Additionally, since most of us are able to communicate with each other in an appropriate and respectful manner, student-led lectures foster an inclusive environment for all involved. There is also a potential for students to encourage one another to build a better relationship with studies that some weren’t interested in before. Passions for other areas of study could open doors and opportunities for new career interests.

Unless universities believe that student teaching is completely absurd, the only other possible solutions is to train our staff to be better equipped for the working world, or hire them from more credible places. But how can we be so sure that these two options would work?

It takes time to form relationships with new professors. We need to be sure that we can trust them to teach curriculums at an easily absorbable rate, especially after being taken advantage of by the ones we have now.

In the end, no school should cost an absurd amount of money per year if there aren’t an equal amount of fulfilling academic opportunities or experiences available to students.
Unfortunately, tuition is expected to soar even more in the coming years unless we discuss change now.