Germany discusses,
forever it seems, the need to cut schooling. Are 12 or 13 years
of schooling sufficient? How long should the state support a
student in the university? With the reunification of the
country, new needs had to be addressed: qualified teachers,
adequate facilities, financing. Japan, while maintaining a
12-grade system, requires more days of schooling (230 per year
compared to 212 in Germany and 180 in the USA). France, which
regulates even pre-school, maintains 15 years of education.
Still, 40% of French students commit errors in using their
language. When, almost 360 years ago, Richelieu introduced
(unthinkable for the American mentality) the Acad‚mie Fran‡aise
as the guardian of the language, little did he know that a time
would come when language, French or any other, would no longer
dominate people's life and work, and would not, despite money
invested and time spent to teach, make all who study literate.
The new pragmatic context requires an education that results in
abilities to distinguish patterns in a world of extreme
dynamism, to question, to cope with complexity as it affects
one's practical existence, and with a continuum of values.
Students know from their own experience that there is no
intrinsic determination to the eternity and universality of
language-and this is probably the first shock one faces when
noticing how large illiterate populations function and prosper in
modern society.
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