Chapter 4 - Question 5 - Dajanka

I do not want to bore you but I just can't stop writing about passages that somehow relate to me. I really hope you do not mind it)
 This chapter was mainly about government not being as good institution as it might seem. Passage that specifically grabbed my attention was the one where Wheelan is talking about  fishing in Massachusetts. The government was trying to preserve fish but the system just was not right. After they changed the law just a little bit all at once both fish and fishermen were "better off".
The topic that it mostly discussed in the Slovakia government last few years is education. Government want to do everyone better off (or at least I hope that they really do). The main problem was that a lot of kids were deciding to study at gymnasiums after middle school  and after their high school education they went of to universities. What is the problem with that you might ask. The answer is simple. The more kids will study at gymnasiums the less kids will devote their time studying at craft schools (learning to be electricians, hairdressers, auto-mechanics...). And because the society wants to have working cars and nice hair the government needs people with this kind of education. To do so, they did a lot of restrictions influencing kids who want to be accepted to gymnasiums. Their grade average can not be lower than 2,0 and if you have an average lower then 2,7 you can not even finish high school with national exams (not having a national exam will cause you a lot of trouble while looking for job). Government intensions seemed the be right at the beginning but the consequences of this restriction are fatal. First of all, you can't force 11 year old kids to know how they future is going to look like. A lot of times they do not even realise that having a D from one of their subject will determine they future. They are not old enough to care and when they realise what the relationship between their grades and future is, it is just too late. Simply said, intelligent kids who once did not care end up being hairdressers. Secondly, not every middle school has the same standards. One school can be super easy and another super hard. D in one is an A in another. Most of the times harder school tend to have better students than easier schools but government does not care they generalise all the data. In the end, good gymnasiums need to accept not as talent students who have A's because all the educated kids were in quality middle schools not having as good grades. Moreover, there is a shortage of students "qualified" to be accepted to gymnasiums so school like that have a hard time finding enough students to run the school properly.
 I believe that  Wheelan would agree that government just is not always your best friends. :)