Jassim Ibrahim Fakhro
From morning to evening, we are busy with WhatsApp messages that never finish, between advices, jokes, and useless and repeated pieces of information!
However, there was a message that caught my attention so I kept reading it over and over while telling myself, why? Who is responsible? And is it real or did someone make that up? But it seemed to me that the source is reliable and God knows best if it was!
BuzzFeed website has published a study conducted by an international organisation about children’s happiness at school and school rankings; the best and worst schools by country and happiest kids at school around the world.
The study included 65 countries, from Singapore to Switzerland and it addressed two issues: Are the children happy at school? What were their scores in math, reading and science?
The results were published in two tables. The first was about the best schools and happiest children at school. Singapore was on top, while Macau in China was at the bottom of the table.
The second table was about the worst schools and the unhappiest kids at school. Qatar came first, meaning the worst, while Jordan was at the bottom of the list! The study also showed that the happiest children are Indonesians and the unhappiest children are South Koreans.
Individually, Shanghai in China showed the best results while Peru had the worst overall scores.
Yes, Qatar appeared on this list but in a negative way, being the worst!
I was extremely shocked with the results. Our country has put in all efforts, taken initiatives, organised conferences, and spent tonnes of money, to be finally the worst country in terms of children’s happiness. To begin with, are these results realistic? God knows, but if they are, then who is to blame?
Does the blame go to the Supreme Education Council and its curriculum or to schools, their administrations, and teachers?
These are questions to be posed to His Excellency the Minister in order to investigate, evaluate and establish facts, and then fix the issues because this has to do with the reputation of our country and the future of our children.
I said to myself, let me examine my children who go to different schools, both public and private. When I asked them to write a score about their happiness level at school, the results showed that they were not happy!
After discussing the reasons behind their unhappiness, they said that the teachers give orders, don’t smile, and scream out.
Teachers enter the classroom with many worries and pass on this negative attitude to our children, forgetting that they are educators and not just employees.
Schools also lack extracurricular activities and means of entertainment in an educational way. In addition, the books are written in a way that burdens students rather than educating them.
One of my children said that it is poor communication between children and the teachers. There is basically no real communication between students and teachers!
Do Qatar and its children deserve such results?
I wish Singapore is on the agenda of your next visit soon!
