Why Grades Should Be Abolished in Schools

All grades in college or university should be abolished. This would destroy the whole educational system you say. I say good! The present system conditions a student to work for a grade rather than the knowledge the grade is supposed to represent. Students should be studying because they need the knowledge to pursue whatever endeavor they choose in life.

In a school with no grades, the typical student would hand in the first assignment because of force of habit. He might even attend the next few lectures and turn in mediocre work. Eventually he would start missing classes and not hand in assignments. All this time there would be no penalty attached to this. Eventually the student might realize he wasn't learning much and stop coming to class at all.

What would soon happen, is that the student, with no hard feelings on anyone's part, would flunk himself out. He was indoctrinated into the school of the dangling carrot, if he wasn't pushed or held to account, he wouldn't work. The student wasn't attending school for an education and had no business being there in the first place. He hadn't flunked out, he just realized he didn't want to be there. No harm done. No bridges burned.

Now the student instead of being a slave to the system is free to pursue whatever he likes. He may get a low level job that doesn't pay much or challenge him in any way. He may decide that this fills his needs, and that's fine, since at least now he is contributing to society. He isn't wasting time and money studying to get a grade.

After attending the school of hard knocks for a time, the student may want to do something more demanding. He may discover that in order to do this, he will need certain skills or knowledge. This is when he may very well return to college and pursue his studies with the right attitude. Since now he is working, not for a grade, but for knowledge. He will not only work hard, but will demand that those teaching him work as hard. He would be paying for an education and the institution had better be able to provide it.

The abolishment of grades would not only benefit students by getting rid of those who shouldn't be there, but also would benefit the whole system by making institutions more accountable in meeting students needs.