Wrong Question

A new government-sponsored ad is receiving a lot of play these days (although less since the start of the federal election goofiness). It's about education, sponsored by the government of Ontario.

The ad is intended to show that kids are all different and all have a chance of succeeding in Ontario's schools. That part is fine. Here's the text:

THERE ARE THOSE WHO JUMP RIGHT IN.
AND THOSE WHO PREFER TO PONDER.
THERE ARE DOERS, THINKERS, WATCHERS AND READERS.
MATHLETES. ATHLETES. AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN.

So far, so good. Then the ad goes off the rails.

SO HOW DO YOU HELP THEM ALL GRADUATE?

Whoa. Wrong question. It's entirely possible that not all of them SHOULD graduate. Have they learned what they need to know at that level of education?

Right question: SO HOW DO YOU HELP THEM ALL LEARN?

You can see the ad itself here.

As with most government-sponsored ads up here, the production is great. The variety of students is pretty good, though they all look cleaner than the kids I see here, as do the school facilities. The ad has a lot going for it. Except its assumption about the purpose of education, of course.

Yes, I know--I've never been in front of a classroom, I'm not a trained teacher, I don't even have kids in school. But we all have a vested interest in education and in what "kids today" learn. (On both sides of the border.) And the point of education is not to graduate--it's to learn, which requires taking risks and making mistakes. We can't fault students for not knowing things (like where Canada is, or how the U.S. electoral process differs from Canada's) if we make them focus on safely getting through, not learning things.

And now that I have improved the management of Ontario's educational system, I'm going to go see if any of my funds hold AIG stock.