What’s wrong with the education system

When I was young, my mother told me something that stayed with me for years.

If I failed my school exams, my future would be bleak.
Only people with good academic results would have a chance in life.

I believed her.

I hated school.

My eldest brother once told me, “Studying is hard. But not studying is even harder.”
I understood what he meant, but it didn’t make school any easier to live through.

School sorted us early.

There were classes for the “smart” students.
And classes for the “not so smart” ones.

No one used the word “stupid,” but everyone knew what the labels meant.
And once the label stuck, it stayed.

I felt stupid.

It was only much later in life that I discovered something school never taught me.
There are many kinds of intelligence.

But the kind I had didn’t count in exams.
And it didn’t count much in the workplace either.

I remember not even being given a chance for an interview.
Not because I lacked competence.
Not because I lacked skills.
But because I lacked the right piece of paper.

School taught us to study what would be tested.
We ignored what wouldn’t.

We didn’t study for understanding.
We studied to score.

But life is bigger than a few examinable subjects.

No one taught us how to think critically.
How to manage emotions.
How to communicate.
How to make sense of ourselves.

The system didn’t reward people who questioned.
It rewarded people who complied.

Follow the rules.
Follow the model answer.
Follow the standard method.

Thinking too differently was risky.

School stopped being fun.

We didn’t cooperate.
We competed.

We didn’t share notes.
We protected them.

Exams felt like life or death.
Two hours deciding your worth.
Your future.
Your direction.

That pressure doesn’t disappear after graduation.
It follows you.

This is why I wrote
We Built School for a World That No Longer Exists:
Why Modern Education Is Outdated, and What Must Replace It

Not because I hate education.
But because I believe education should help people grow, not quietly convince them they are not enough.

If you ever felt behind, maybe you weren’t.
Maybe the model was.

PS I write books too. They live here:
https://payhip.com/samchoo