What about the rest of education?

If you have been paying attention to the news lately, you may have heard words like STEM (Science, Technology, Math, Engineering and Math) being thrown around in regards to education.

STEM is actually a pretty cool concept that I wish was around when I was in school. STEM programs let students build robots, learn how to code, learn trade skills and more.

It’s a great program for students that could better prepare them for a future, especially if two, four or more years of higher education may not be what they want to do.

It’s amazing to read, hear and see what students in high school, and even elementary school, are doing in these areas right now.

Still, no matter how cool it may seem, I just want to ask one question:

Have we forgotten about the other subjects?

I know this may sound like a dumb question. Obviously we haven’t completely forgotten about subjects like history or English. They are subjects required by the state to be taught as part of our children’s education.

Still, how often do we hear about great moves to improve education in those areas? Not as often as I would like.

When I’m not writing about the news, I teach remedial English at Troy University. I teach students, who have usually just graduated from high school, grammar and writing skills they should have already mastered.

Sometimes, I’m brought to tears by how hard it is for my students to write.

This is not just a problem in the different schools these students come from. It’s a statewide and nationwide problem.

Just to give you a few numbers, a 2015 al.com article reported that 32 percent of students who graduated from high school in 2015 took at least one remedial course in college. The article reports that 5.6 percent of those, over 45,000, high school graduates took an English remedial course.

According to a 2016 study published by the National Center for Education Statistics, around 28 percent of postsecondary students who started school in 2003-04 took a remedial English or reading course at a two-year institution.

Of 2003-04 students that attended a four-year institution, around 11 percent took a remedial English course.

What’s even more interesting is that, on a national level, those numbers are almost doubled in math remediation.

I obviously don’t teach in any public school system anywhere, so if I don’t have all the facts, I would love to hear about it. With that being said, all I see is a push for STEM at the state level and very little appreciation for being able to put thoughts down on paper in a way that people can understand.

I loved science and math in high school, and I wish I had more exposure to trade skills such as engineering, welding, and everything else that could possibly fall under STEM.

Still, in my opinion, however little that matters to anyone, I would still want to be able to write well.

I would love to hear more about how state leaders are helping students who struggle with that.

Cassie Gibbs is a staff writer for The Southeast Sun and Daleville Sun-Courier. The opinions of this writer are her own and not the opinion of the paper. She can be reached at (334) 393-2969 or by email at [email protected].