Sunday, April 19, 2009

Surf Schools “don't prepare students for real life”, says expert.













Coogee, NSW – Despite their fleets of softboards, brightly coloured lycra rash shirts, and accreditation with regulatory body Surfing Australia, Surf Schools still fall well short of their dry land counterparts, warned leading education expert Kath Murray.


“It's all very well to learn to spring to one’s feet in a smooth motion – arms outstretched, knees bent and weight centred – but these schools are failing to deliver sound learning outcomes on basics such as literacy, numeracy and reason,” Ms Murray argued yesterday.

“Call me old fashioned, but sitting on the beach while an ex pro surfer points out where the rips are hardly compares with six years of standard secondary-school curriculum.

“Being pushed into a one-foot reform by a surly local just doesn’t prepare one for the rigors of tertiary education.

“And if you ever finally land a job interview, will the claim of having ‘stood up for a couple of seconds’ count for anything?

Ms Murray suggested that parents continue to enrol their children in conventional schools for now, until Surf Schools broaden their curriculum, advising “There's got to be more to education than simulated paddling in the sand while chafing in the crotch from a too-tight wetsuit still warm from the previous pupil's urine.”

1 comment:

  1. I would like to learn to surf, however, after finish reading this column, I think I better get information enough before making a mistake going to a useless surf school.

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