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Comment by Wowfunhappy | Hacker News Reader

I don't know what the implications would be on finances / resource allocation for the school, but IMO everyone's education should be "paused" right now, including K-12. If you were going to graduate in six months, and the Coronavirus ends up closing campus for six months, you'll now graduate in 12 months, after you've had your due time on campus. And that additional six months of schooling comes at no additional cost.

If I had a reservation at a restaurant before the Coranvirus, and the restaurant is now closed, I'm not forced to buy a take-out order instead—I just don't pay. That really sucks for all the people who work at the restaurant, but I don't think forcing customers to pay for a service they didn't receive is the right solution.

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All students and pupils are forming a chain where each promotion is expected to move up one year, replaced by the next promotion. There ain't a pause capability in the educational system, things MUST move forward every year at a define schedule. If anything, that's a good example of what a "deadline" is.

It can ignore a few months of disturbance, as demonstrated by long strikes or major events. It can't skip one cycle.

We can't skip a cycle, but we can move the students up even though they haven't actually completed their education?

Make no mistake, the situation sucks for everyone. But it seems to me that actually educating people should take priority over meeting an arbitrary deadline.

Apparently schools can let children move on no matter what. When unable to hold end of year exams (end of middle school and high school), they will use the current grades so far and do away without any exam.

For universities, it's gonna be a lot more tricky. They shouldn't get away with charging up to 50k a year for nothing. They can't deliver labs and practical trainings. There is no continuity between an undergraduate and an postgraduate, probably somewhere else.

> Apparently schools can let children move on no matter what.

Colleges could also snap their fingers and mail everyone diplomas in exchange for nothing, if they felt so inclined.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that schools aren't just meaningless certificate factories and that the students who attend them actually learn stuff. Just because the students are being moved up doesn't mean they're adequately prepared for next year.

I agree, there is training that can't be skipped. I think it's mostly a problem for higher education, not for schools.

If a child didn't fully learn to write, or a high schooler didn't complete calculus, they can catch up the next year. (schools will probably have to adjust their curriculum slightly to catch up). Schools don't teach anything major that can't be redone or skipped.

Universities don't have this luxury. If a future dentist didn't train on a procedure this year, too bad because that was the only time it's covered. Gonna have to discover it in the field if it comes up?

What should students who were planning on graduating and finding employment do?

I hate this, but they'll have to cope, just like those who lost their jobs and those who lost family and friends.

It sucks, but the real issue is that there's no social safety net for these types of folks in many places, which makes my first sentence sound kinda uncaring, but there's not many other options.

The other major issue is that, for a lot of the students in college, they don't really even need the degree as anything other than a key to the gatekeeping tool used by employers. I'm not saying education is worthless, it's important to have a well rounded knowledge of the world, but you don't need that degree to be a sales person or a realtor or a welder or a carpenter or maybe even a developer. In other words, we shouldn't be forcing them to choose: degree or livelihoods.

This sucks, and I feel for everyone (I'm unemployed as well) but we all will have to deal with some discomfort, I'm really sorry to say that though.

> or a realtor or a welder

Both of those do require certifications (at least for some types of welding) and for good reasons tied to legal requirements and safety.

Yes but degrees aren't needed, that's the point. I'm talking about the gatekeeping aspect, specifically, in that part. I know that doesn't hold for every degree or cert, for sure.

really get's tough when the 'entry' point of those grades now has double the students (new incoming students; not those also repeating a grade), as people will want their kids to start schooling at the 'normal' (maybe this changes?) age.

Colleges have the ability to accept fewer incoming freshmen. And if K-12 schools were also delaying graduation, there would be fewer applicants.

One option for K-12 would be to take fewer incoming Kindergardeners, perhaps by moving up the birthday cutoff date. Parents can get over themselves; this isn't a normal situation and some shared sacrifice is necessary.

None of this is a good, but I find it preferable to the current status quo. Making sure students get the education they're due should take priority over meeting arbitrary dates.

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