This Online petition is to legitimize the support towards the reconsideration and/or repeal of Packaged IB courses at Glenforest Secondary School.
For more information and to show you support through social media, please visit our Facebook Page. http://www.facebook.com/groups/gfsspreib/
Please take some time to read through the following as it will bring you great insight into the matter of this situation and its affect on students:
The Pre-IB Manifesto:
As many of you grade 10 pre-ibs have learned in the recent days, it has been officially announced that our IB courses for the next year will be divided into packages that have been predetermined for our senior years in IB.
These predetermined packages were made for the sole purpose of avoiding the major issue of course conflicts, or at least that's what the school's telling everybody. Recently a "survey" had been given out to all gr.10 pre-ib students to fill out trying to inquire about their choices of packages, along with a little section for student's own opinion towards how their own personal packages should look like.
Some things are quite evident in the 4 given packages, where it's clear that not ALL the courses available listed on Chart Your Course (essentially the ones that Glenforest supposedly offers), are in packages.
It is clearly evident that many, many problems will arise due to this decision.
1. These predetermined packages obviously will not satisfy all students. This leads to the almost certain inevitability that many students will end up with a package that includes course(s) that they simply do not wish to take. This not only will affect their academic grading for university, it affects their mentality and moral of having to burden taking an unnecessary course(s).
2. Packaged courses and limiting student's own decisions towards their academic future was not what Pre-IB students have studied so hard to obtain. These packaged courses are determined based on an almost stereotypical post secondary pathway.
- EX. Pack A: contains all courses that are analytically challenging, Pack B: Biology/psych pathway, Pack D: Chemistry/econ Pathyway, Pack C: A social sciences pathway.
With these predetermined pathways (essentially) a lot of other pathways are CLEARLY missing! Whatever happened to the "Liberal-Arts minded/well rounded" student that IB was supposed to produce?
It's extremely evident that these packages do not meet these undermining goals of the IBO. Take Pack A for example, where are one's options to take an arts course in that package? Not possible at the moment, unless you put it down as one of your own "Pack E" selections. AND even if that wasn't possible and you really did want to take an IB arts course in HL you will then HAVE to take the package C which doesn't have a legitimate math course (for applying for sciences, engineering, etc in uni). This is almost like discriminating those who would like to take arts and history courses that, if and when they want to do so, they can't apply for a sciences uni strand that requires a math that is higher than the "math studies" course.
And if that's the case, what is really the difference between IB and Mainstream then?
3. When the costs of attending the IB programs exceeds over $2000 (in my opinion already extremely financially discriminating towards any low income family who wishes to have their child attend the world renowned IB program), what we get from paying up the big bucks is a future that we don't necessarily desire... almost forced into.
I personally cannot confirm if this is true, but the chances of this being the way things are done are pretty high. Glenforest has got to be taking a cut out of this $2400 that we will pay up to stay in the IB program. When we literally pay a course fee, for courses we don't want to take, or will most likely not succeed in, the line between burning one's hard earned money and paying for this is blurred.
4. If this affects students, why were students not involved in the decision making of this? Why weren't parents even involved in this decision making? After all, a decision to package courses was a school decision, not an IB decision. As of right now, all other IB schools in Peel do not have this problem.
5. Politics in school:
What this issue boils down is an issue that dwells deeper into the political system of the school and how they want to run things. With that is MONEY. Money is the main reason why anything is even a problem nowadays isn't it?
Here's the issue with course conflicts.
1. It is time consuming to figure out and eventually someone's got to switch their courses to satisfy something else in their time tables.
2. The only way to solve a problem of course conflicts is to have more teachers, either existing, or new to fill those periods to teach.
#1 on that list isnât that big of an issue really, more of an excuse that Glenforest has used to impose this on us.
#2 is the real McCoy in this problem. What will be needed to obtain teachers to fill periods to teach? MONEY.
Money to hire, train and keep a teacher teaching at a school. And obviously, Glenforest is not willing to spend time and money on doing this, after all it's all about making and keeping money, and the students that Glenforest is supposed to serve isn't that important after all of this.
Why is this school politics? Well in this so-called democratic, equal and fair society we live in, with public education that our parents and all other honest taxpayers pay for so children can have the optimal best education possible, with a chance to choose what they themselves want to do in the future, the ones that are DIRECTLY affected by this change, yes that means YOU, ME, All Glenforest pre-ib students and all students in general, did not have a say in this decision.
This crucial decision that, lets not sugar coat this, will directly affect our post-secondary future.
Not only did students/parents not have a say in this, they wont ever have another say in the courses students choose not because we can't anymore.
When it comes to what's best for the students, it is extremely unethical to consider what the school can support over what's best for the students. This is an argument of what's RIGHT vs what's EASIER to manage. That cannot be an excuse for students to not have their own choice in what their career paths. The same students that will one day, be the prime ministers that rule Canada, the CEOS that sell you computers, the doctors that give you heart surgery. These STUDENTS, kids... the future... a decision like this cannot simply be met by just going with what's easier for the school to pay for and support.
At this point if that's the case the amount of effort We students put towards our hopeful education at Glenforest outweighs that of what Glenforest is WILLING to give back to its students, especially IB students.
Their tactic of just giving us a survey that will represent out unanimous agreement towards packaged courses when we hand them is, is down right disgusting.
We, the student body, the majority in this school by numbers, need to take action towards this problem. We need to repeal this decision by exercising our rights to free speech, opinion, assembly and peaceful protest.
We cans start by raising awareness of this big problem with all students, parents and officials. By liking this page you show your support and digital signature towards this movement. Discussion on this issue is crucial and it must not die.
Lets stand together as one, openly minded group of intellectuals, Students, children of the future and let those accountable for this know of our outcry. Let THIS be our Arabspring. Let this be OUR Occupy moment. Letâs make OUR MARK on this decision and reverse it.
Thank you
- Grade 10 Pre-IB Students of Glenforest.
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We will see you at the Info night! More on this will be updated later on.
Email to this movement at gfsspreib@groups.facebook.com we would like to hear your support and comments!