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It is a known fact the many of us hate mathematics as a subject. It requires too much logic and alertness. On the other hand, many hate English language studies as well. Reading stories are okay but learning them for papers…are not okay.

Most school kids could get away with this until recently. American schools had the norm of something known as the ‘social promotion’ which means that even though a student’s scores low in mathematics and English language, they were being promoted to the next grade. This would happen because the school authorities would look at the overall score of the student across all the subjects and if they were okay, the student would be promoted.

Many school authorities were also under the impression that if they do not promote the children who have passed and not entirely failed, it would harm their self-esteem. They would miss their friends and peers. And this could damage their emotional self forever.

But schools are thinking otherwise now. But why the sudden change of heart? A recent report stated that almost 21,000 schools in America scored really low on the mathematics and English language tests. Hence, the schools have now decided to start summer school.

A summer school is a place where weak students are sent. This will happen in their own schools only where they will have to take extra classes to make up for the low scores in the past year. It will be a compulsory class for each student falling into this category. If they fail to attend these classes or continue to score low, they will be held back.

A spokesperson from one of the colleges stated that this was a big decision. By doing so they want to ensure that each student is getting quality education and not just some classroom session that they are going to forget very soon.

Although the American nation is facing huge cuts in the education sector, the schools have decided to take up this initiative only because it works in favour of their students. Last year the budget for summer schools was $53 million.

This year is going to be tough given the current financial situation. But the schools are determined that they want to go ahead with the summer school idea and yes, they know they will need a lot of money to make sure that each student who needs to be in summer school, gets a seat there.

Education is important but in its right form and not in the diluted version. This means when we study and acquire a degree, we should have achieved the degree through merit and not just because we were pushed into the other grade. Grades are important but not so important that every student must stand first.

Good grades only indicate that a student has learnt something and has put it to use. Education is the only thing that we will be able to pass onto our next generation. Hence, one must take it seriously.