Today was a big day for me. I passed a high school maths test.
Sorry. I'm still getting used to calling it maths instead of math. It is, I assume, a cultural difference.
Here's another cultural difference that brought me to this maths test: for almost every job I had in Canada, holding a high school diploma was the baseline requirement. Here, it's GCSEs.
I have no GCSEs, no A levels. What I have is a high school diploma, a Bachelors and a Masters. But that means nothing because for all anyone knows, I can't make change or form a sentence!
Job applications are a nightmare as soon as education comes up. Each one asks me to list my high school courses and the grades I got for them. How can I possibly know them? High school was almost 10 years ago. I would fully expect my most recently completed level of education to be the only important aspect - obviously I finished high school; I have two degrees. As far as I'm aware everyone in Ottawa had to stay in school until age 18 - here it's still 16, when kids take their GCSEs and then have the option of quitting. As I dimly recall, I had to complete 2 years of maths, 2 years of French and (I think) 4 years of English. Science and Tech were in there somewhere, too. Then at 16 there were more options, and people generally carried on with what they were good at - I went English and didn't bother with maths.
Not that it would have mattered now if I had! Because I also had to do a high school level English exam today! It took a grand total of 10 minutes for me to answer 40 questions at GCSE level. I'm not saying the questions were pointlessly easy... not from the perspective of dyslexics, the visually impaired, coma patients or children under 6 (children from some other country, presumably... apparently this was a standard exam in English for teenagers from England). I was conjugating verbs and identifying the root since I was big enough to bounce.
The only prize I've ever won was an award for the highest pass in English (100%), which I received upon graduating from high school. I couldn't help feeling insulted.
In Ottawa the high school diploma is the qualification, because everyone had to fulfil the same requirements, and I just barely scratched through math. Grades only mattered depending on if you planned to pursue higher education.
I'm not sure what this difference indicates. Canada is a big place, and in my little suburb I was sheltered, from 2 to 18. I don't know what the high school requirements were outside of Ottawa. I don't know if it shows higher standards or greater prejudice: disqualifying people from work just because they got a D instead of a C in English. I appreciate now how much pressure there must be on young people here - at 15 I wasn't thinking of my future, and at 18 I still hadn't learned to regret not trying harder at maths. It just feels like I got a better break in Canada... not that I can't handle it. But I can see why kids here end up feeling like giving up is the least hurtful option. Better not to try at all than to try, and fail. NVQs? Don't get me started on NVQs. They're a scam against the underprivileged.
I don't know what to write on job application forms under "list all qualifications from secondary education, including grade achieved". Lately, I've just filled in the first line with "completed high school".
Well, that's all changed now. After less than a week of classes I can slam down a C in maths and an A in English. Very likely after Friday I can throw in an A in ICT. Then employers, befuddled by the skills I supposedly gained from working hard in university for a total of 5 years, can breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of the handful of letter grades that will definitively guarantee that I won't resort to kicking the photocopier, or screaming at customers.
Of course this won't happen. I expect to still be unemployed next week, astounding letter grades notwithstanding. Wanna know why I've done this? Job seekers like me get incentives to improve our melted, degraded minds. Free driving lessons, free theory test and free first aid training - my inability to drive or perform CPR has been an issue for me since my baby cousin took up residence.
Actually, when I went into the centre last week I only wanted someone to remind me how calculations in Excel work. Plus... I really am bad at maths. The English was a pointless waste of my thought processes, but I was genuinely pleased that I passed tolerably well in maths. I am NEVER telling my dad.
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