Wednesday, July 02, 2008
A New End and a New Start
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Below Fifteen? Idiot!
Final Week (Bah!) is now over. In a move of sheer sadism. Choueifat thinks that after days of scaring the hell out of most of us, and after hours of shoving in whatever we can from the text books and tearing our hair out only to get screwed over in the actual exams. SABIS thinks we can revert to a normal school week again, with a weekly as the extra kick in the ribs. But that's not what is really ticking me off today. Recently Choueifat has decided to post more degrading bits of "Brobaganda" around the schools. It's an ironically white piece of paper that states in colourful grey letters in the background "78% SMART". And with full pomposity tries to convince those of us who are moronic enough to believe it, that if you get below an average of 15, than you are either A)Lazy, B) You don't know how to study or C)Stupid. Well it doesn't really say stupid, but it does a really bad job of sugarcoating what it really means. In a desperate attempt to try and pass themselves off as the true Messiahs, they offer after school study sessions, where students are forced against their own will to teach students who would rather not be there, to say the least. It's bad enough we already have the worst school hours for not just any school in the Middle East, but for any school in the World. Horrid as that may seem, what really ticks me off that that they continue to butcher people up inside by making them feel worse off than they already are. But then again it's one of the many lessons in life taught by The G-Man. It all makes sense to him. The crappier you feel, the more inclined you are to do better in life. But then again, I'm sure history has proven that the only way that Einstein, Homer, Pythagoras, Da Vinci, Ghandi, Christ and Mozart all got to where they were by getting good marks on their AMS's and scoring above fifteen on their term finals. I'm sure the butchering of self-esteem, pride and confidence all came as an added perk. Oh, lest I forget ,having their dreams shattered for a fee too. This all goes to ratify a firm opinion I have for SABIS. Their latest scheme reminds me of a quote
Monday, March 03, 2008
Choueifatis Anonymous
Regards, KyoDes
So What's Your Story?
I don't know if you've all noticed, but I haven't written here for about a year. KyoDes had taken over and has since done a hell of a job with the site. It's been steadily growing every month.
Lately, we've been receiving a few more e-mails and comments, mainly about the horror stories they've been through as a Choueifati student or staff member. We think that you should hear these tales of torture and despair, so we've started a new segment of our blog called "So What's Your Story", where we select a story e-mailed to us and post it up. We may have to censor certain parts, but you should be able to get the gist of it. Speaking of which, friends, please try to make your writing objective so that we are taken seriously.
To submit a story, simply e-mail it to
justachoueifati@gmail.com
We look forward to your e-mails. Get it off your chest!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Is Something Missing?
Hello, one and all. I know It's been a long time. I could go on and on about all the reasons why I didn't continue this blog after New Year's, or at least past Christmas. But to make a long story really short. I had an excellent holiday. And a somewhat bearable reorientation.
Now on to the main part. SABIS still continues to enforce a draconian system of education. Including with the newly enforced Homework Exams. They have now warned us that these pointless doodles count so much that if we we're to be absent for one of them, we would be "forced" to do them in the summer. So we apparently need to be in school everyday, regardless of weather we have externals to do, or family duties, or even matters of life and death. SABIS uber alles. Guess they really didn't like it when no one bothered showing up during the holidays. I guess they managed to overlook the fact that IT WAS A CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEARS HOLIDAY!, and that you can't inform people two days before and expect them to cancel plans set months in advance. You are not worthy, never were, never will.
On the light hearted side of things. Reports are telling me that a theatrical thesbian in Dubai has decided to put on the famous musical "The King And I" I love musicals and the theatre, and I support any attempt to break SABIS into the arts. But I'm not gonna state further more and I am merely going to say. Good Luck, you're going to need it.
Finally, a Dubai loving boob. Who goes by the username of Leitmanp on Wikipedia, keeps removing the link to my page from the wiki article on Choueifat Schools. We've tried altering it, but because he is a not so prominent Wikipedia editor, he's managed to set a robot on the page so that any attempts to change it back to its usually semi-truthful form results in a reverse within a few minutes. I was alerted to this vile act of censorship by a friend. And I ask that those of you who wish to have what I write be noticed by the large number of Choueifat hopefuls, contact this boy and assure him that this is all for a good cause.
right here
Farewell, and have a Happy Valentine's Day.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
All Work And No Play
I do apologize for my long delay in updating this site with a brand new post, but as some of you know. The exams have recently finished and I'm now enjoying the holidays. Those in their school years will notice that the timetables have recently been changed. 3 times in one week to be exact. Now why so?, is The Mighty Douch attempting to dispose of our free periods? That's one reason. But the truth is, the changes are to make way for an absolutely revolutionary, pointless system of Homework AMS's. Now I know some of you who have left SABIS, or those still in it who still don't know what it means, are asking what are Homework AMS's. During certain lessons they will hand you a paper with some questions on it. You revise those questions and the answers. And during regular AMS's, they give you another one with the exact same questions as the sheet they give you in class. At the end of the year basically, Choueifat just handed over to the students 25 percent of the mark. Now, why is a system of autocracy, well known for ruining lives, suddenly being so generous to us. Rumor's are spreading that after term 1 finals, the majority of the students did so badly that SABIS chose to do this to cover up the cracks in the system before term 2. And frankly that's the one I choose to believe. Now my usual readers will be shocked to know that I am diverting from my usual style, and just once, I will choose to congratulate Choueifat. Because never in its 120 year history has it shown such blatant bravery, more so than any other school. Because they are now literally handing us the passing mark. Thus showing they are now stuck on the road to damnation. Sure it means a little extra work, and free periods are slowly getting cut off for pointless double maths periods. But like I said, they are now on the road to eternal damnation on a huge scale.
Merry Christmas, and have a wonderful New Year. You know SABIS won't.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Free Period? PAH!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
It's Only Brobaganda!
Ah yes, Choueifat has resorted to a new low. To those of you in the school, you might notice that right now, posters of Mr.G's badly thought up quotes are now plastered all over the admin and especially the primary areas. They include such memorable anti intellectualism such as "the only way for evil to prevail is for the good to do nothing" or my personal favourite because of just how funny it is "Always do the opposite of what your enemy wants you to do". We all know that Mr.G's sense of right and wrong clearly leaves some ethical and moral issues to be questioned. And the last part is clearly one of the worst tactics that can be brought to mind. I find it funny how they don't post any of this in the secondary or senior areas. Have they given up on trying to convince us that they're right? have they now decided to go on to the possible more impressionable little ones? Just think of it, 10 years from now, if the school were to succeed they would have an army of Choueifatis. All spineless, dull, repetitive little drones who actually believe that listening and believing people like Mr.G can cause you to function in normal human society. Thankfully some of the lovely children have taken the liberty of ripping them up. YAY!
Oh, and in response to a certain comment left by anonymous that begins with "Hello K." reread your post and have the word hypocrite spelled out clearly in your mind and think real hard. BTW, since you obviously don't get the point of my anonymity. I recommend that you yourself commit some form of self castration for humanity's sake. Cheers!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
So it's been over a year now...
Just over a year ago, I created this site to let me vent out my thoughts on Choueifati ideology. I created it to let the world know what is really happening behind the scenes of "one of the premier schools of the Middle East". I created it to explain how ridiculous the mores of our schools were, and how we were deprived of any creativity or art.
Well, a year and a bit later, I'm now happily living in xxxxxx and I couldn't be feeling much better. Life is much less stressful, even though I'm working full time. I've gotten back to my music, my sport and I really don't have much to thank Choueifat for.
I mean, I had some awesome friends through my years and I really don't like complaining about anything, but the issues in Choueifat really needed to be thoroughly addressed. That doesn't mean that we should whine and bitch about every single flaw in the school, because obviously, no school is perfect, but we need to make a point so as to stop as many problems as we can. The first step is of course to inform everyone, inside and outside of the school, about the atrocities happening daily within our fair school.
Which brings me to my next point... Don't believe anything that the administration tells you in regards to your education. We are supposed to be the intellectual "elite", but you will all see when you hit university that there will ALWAYS be a smarter crowd. Apparently, all we learnt in Choueifat and all the art we sacrificed was in vain, because I really don't feel any smarter than my peers.
In fact, I feel like I missed out on too much in high school. I've gotten over it, but I really do think that the school needs a total reform. I guess it doesn't really matter though... With all the lawsuits going on and the higher-up exploits being uncovered, I don't think we should worry about the future of the school, because there probably won't be one.
Thanks for reading.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Be Young and Shut Up
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Not In A Million Years!
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Lies, Glorious Lies.
Oh, the whole "suspending students with Facebook" Scenario. Apparently the students were suspended for joining a group against a very draconian, and terribly misinformed administrator. And a little brat by the name of, oh let's call him Ronin, ratted out on all of them. Now I know I'm not the type of person to advocate violence against a single person but for goodness sake. You're in Gr. 9 and you are still a snitch. Someone needs to teach you the rules of the playground AGAIN! This whole fiasco came up in the nearly daily 7 Days tabloid, and I assure you Choueifat did their best to heavily censor and butcher the truth. They were NOT taken for an hour to be talked too. To those of you who have been in the system for god knows how long, you would definitely know what happened.
Oh by the way. I thought this video represented advising lessons perfectly.
Monday, October 01, 2007
One by One
Friday, September 28, 2007
Freedom of Speech NOW!
we know THIS is true
evidently true, personal experience.
I couldn't care if they were inexperienced, most of them were smart enough to leave. And the best teachers I've had were all Irish. including a certain Mr. H and Ms. C
Then there are also cases of fraud and mismanegement of state funds in SABIS schools in the U.S. particularly with SABIS schools in the states of Massecheusets and Cincinatti being forced to close down and SABIS loosing an amount of $3 million. The most sickening thing is that in the Cincinatti case, SABIS accused the goverment of racism since most of the students there are African Americans insteading of admitting that they are lying, cheating, stealing, self righteous bastards. SABIS cheats students, parents, humanity, and the goverments they serve. In the UAE this would include complete defiance of Ministry rules.
Monday, September 17, 2007
L is for Losers?
EXTRA: I'd like to give a big shout out to Darah, who talked about contradictions. You say you enjoy my writing yet it seems like you want me to stop. OK, first of all, I do have a life. Big Shock, I know. I post here whenever It needs updating or when I'm really ticked off. You are right about one thing, Choueifat is not what any school is like. And how am I making my time here harder? I have 2 more years left before I leave and no one knows who or where I am writing this blog from and I'm passing with flying colours. Oh and I don't expect the school to change anytime soon, for reference as to why please read Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell. And I do intend on being happy since no one else will. I will tell you that I dream of being an actor. And since the ISC is utter crap when it comes to the arts, I've taken that into my own hands. So that when I do go to New York to follow my dreams, I'll have some credentials. Thank you for your comments by the way. And have a nice year.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
I'm Boycotting You
Is it just me, or has has this place lately been empty? It seems no ones been showing up here. I know I've been gone a long time but I really am trying to make it up to you. But how can I if nobody is there? The meter barely seems to go up anymore. I'm not posting any more anti-Choueifat material unless It's actually gonna get read or at least commented on. You can start now.
oh, and Ramadan Kareem to you all
KyoDes
UPDATE: I know it has only been a day, but A Very Interesting person sent me a very good reason to keep on posting and change my direction. I'll be keeping in touch with him alot now. I apologise If I havn't really been bothering, but I'll try and make it up to you. by the way "Bollocks". the stuff I write is not me making shit up, if I was just using my imagination as reality I would have nuked the schools and used bloody photoshop as evidence.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
A Midsummer Nights Dream, Shortlived.
Oh and I would like to rant about something. A certain supervisor pulled me out of English because I was "chewing gum". What the pathetic excuse of a man forgot to notice was that since I had braces put in, the chances of me chewing gun are drastically reduced. So the idiot dragged me out of my favourite lesson just to ask me why am I chewing gum. I'm sure that was an attempt to make his obviously small "ego" seem rather large by picking on a 16 year old. Chewing gum is a small offence, even by SABIS standards. If the wanker had any common sense left in him he would have asked me to throw the gum instead of trying to show who has the biggest set of plums in the room. My English teacher, let us call her Mrs. E, sent me back into class and confronted this supervisor and left him with an excellent observation on why he is an idiot. I'm sure this won't be the last I see of him.
Monday, July 02, 2007
The Regional Dictator (Part 5)
Hello all. I do hope that you are enjoying your summer, or what's left of it. Mr. G's beleif's and theories, which are in my opinion extremely biased, based and immature. You see, Mr. G constantly babbles on how he doesn't believe in a democracy
If you weren't fully immersed in the SABIS system then you can definately spot the contradictions. Since in my opinion the dipshit isn't popular and far from smart. Anyways, everyone knows that Mr G is a strong supporter of his own set of Eugenics like the silly little man in the picture. The diffrence is, the little man in the picture was way smarter than him and knew what the fuck he was doing but just went drunk with power. Mr. G is just drunk with power. If you don't know what eugenics is, we now thus consult the all knowing Wikipedia.
"Eugenics is a social philosophy which advocates the improvement of human hereditary traits through various forms of intervention. The goals of various groups advocating eugenics have included the creation of healthier, more intelligent people, to save society's resources, and lessen human suffering, as well as desires to breed for optimal qualities."
-All knowing and all holy Wikipedia.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
The Summer of Love
We can all breath a sigh of relief. The long awaited summer in finally here. Thus signalling the end of another year. But lest we forget that soon is the beginning of another. Another year of a pointless system with a Nazi-esque like dictator who is in fact by all means, a stooge. But lets not talk about that! I'm sure allot of us celebrated in our own way the last days of the year, while certain idiots who pose as head supervisors believed we were actually working in class as "normal". Yeah right! and suddenly they expect us to see them in some sugarcoated school fantasy with all smiles. Missing and Idolizing them. BULLSHIT!!!. Any who, I might not post back for a while since I'm gonna be doing quite allot of travelling. And about the Penguin Vs. SABIS case, still going on, still no new info but I will try and keep you posted. Anyways, you all enjoy your summer and do something out of the ordinary, because I have a feeling that this one is going to be one worth remembering.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
March of the Penguin
Let me remind you that this is what I gather from sources in the school and in Penguin Publishing, I suggest you don't start telling everybody now, until I can actually get some leads to show to you all.
But I hope that the Fall of the House of Sabis will soon begin.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
The Regional Dictator. (Part 4)
- Why all the nonsense babble about rules YOU don't live up to either?
- Why tell us to be honest and truthful when you banned those of lower average from taking external exams just so you can make the SABIS system look like it has high standards?
- Why tell us to stand up for what we believe in when you barely let us have the microphone?
- Why do you tell us to hate other student because they are competing with us when it is already obvious we are too busy already hating you?
- Why are we supposed to pay an average of Dhs50 million from each school when it's obvious that none of that is going for the better of any of them?
- Why instill your beliefs upon us and force us to accept them all of a sudden just because you say so?
- Why tell us to report against bullies when you your self are the biggest of them all?
I know that this seems a tad bit of an Insider to the man, but I truly despise him so. I'm probably gonna get alot of unhappy replies to this. But at least I made my point clear.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Unsourced Lies
In today's post, I would like to talk about the current Wikipedia page on Choueifat. In my opinion, It is a heavily edited gaggle of crap written by an obviously ridiculously paid staff of Mr.Germanos. After going through each revision of the page, It turns out that every time someone posts a tiny stitch of reality and criticism. Some moron which I have tracked down in Hamilton Ontario, Canada. Keeps coming back to edit it with and obvious amount of bullshit. Another one from London vandalises it by writing "Germanos rules!!!!" or even more sickening "Choueifat is the best school in the world". I can tell you that even typing in that made me cringe.
Thankfully there are some people that have bothered saying the truth.
The Choueifat schools have a reputation for being among the shittiest schools in the Middle East. Being one of the oldest English-speaking schools in the region, Choueifat has a reputation for a students who don't know their ass from their elbow. Choueifatis have also been known to go on to attend some of the universities most amenable to funding from international student fees in the world. The curriculum has been criticized by teachers and students alike for being overly rigid and formulaic, as well as for a lack of emphasis on artistic activities. There also have been reports of verbal abuse in many branches as supervisors and teachers there seek to enforce an extreme code of discipline. The system has been criticised in the past for its lack of attention to harvesting potential for creativity-based futures for its students.
This was the last edit of the Choueifat Page.
Alright, firstly. I definitely hate the school, shitty would be an understatement. Not all Choueifat students are stupid, I definitely know I don't shit from my elbow. For decades, the students and teachers have been criticizing the system. The constant memorising just so we can get a good mark is absolutely ridiculous, and the lack of promoting creativity in students is a huge mistake to the "Future". And yes there is verbal abuse because the system likes to hire droids that all eat, drink, sleep, breathe and think the same. Like a lot of the supervisors, they come in thinking we are going to be absolutely robotic and do their bidding. And then they finally realise the truth: that we have lives. Yes, some of us were not programmed to be full of shit. They take any form of talking to be "disrespectful"and because it would take them until the second coming of Jesus to think of something to say back. Right before they short circuit they say in absolute slaughter of the English Language "Ya? you say this? come, you go supervisor he suspend you". The man will insult you, and it's pretty obvious he is about as uptight as he is unhygienic. He will give you a smug look when you even talk to him, and even kick you out of class for petty reasons, and when it is absolutely quiet, he threatens people. What a moron. And in the rare case you get to as him "why?". with that ugly condescending look. he will Immediately forget you even existed let alone asked that question.
The current crap on wikipedia is
The Choueifat schools have a reputation for being among the best schools in the Middle East. Being one of the oldest English-speaking schools in the region, Choueifat has a reputation for a students who are smart and privledged. Choueifatis have also been known to go on to attend some of the worlds best universities. The curriculum has been admired by teachers and students alike for being excellent and formulaic, as well as for emphasis on artistic activities.
What shit. I'm absolutely gagging and probably about to cough up my own intestines from this wretched stench of bull shit. I can't type anymore, This is crap. Make your own assumptions. Someone should whack this page to its senses.
NOTE: I know I sound very angry and personal in this post. But this is what being in Choueifat since KG1 does to you. I will do my best to tone it down and not overdo it. Please note I show no remorse for this type of systematic murder done by Mr.G's beloved system.
And Then There Were Two
Friday, May 11, 2007
Retirement
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
The End is Nigh
Well, we just had our "Tree Planting" ceremony on Friday and it was loads of fun. Our grade are now unofficially Choueifati Alumni. We wore suits, dresses and robes and celebrated till the early hours of Saturday morning. Then we realised that we had three periodic exams on Sunday that we didn't get time to study for. (As you may have noticed, I've been really busy planning for the Tree Planting. So busy that I haven't been able to post on my beloved blog for an entire two weeks :p)
Choueifat doesn't care what the students are doing. Exams will always stick. If the student is sick, he or she takes a much more difficult substitute test on the weekend. Even for our last ever weeklies (Chemistry, Java and Biology), they were too stubborn to even smile at the fact that they would never see our grade in the exam hall for a weekly periodic exam again.
Nice way to say goodbye, don't you think?
Monday, April 09, 2007
The SABIS Regional Tournament
So I just got back from the SABIS Regional Tournament in Amman, Jordan. It was loads of fun in general for our team and school, and I 'm sure everyone else involved could say the same. I got the rare oppurtunity to meet Victor Saad, the vice president of the SABIS network and to meet hundreds of other students from other schools. All in all, an amazing experience and probably my most memorable time at Choueifat.
Too bad it's all just a facade. The only real reason I can see Choueifat doing all this is to impress others and convince them that Choueifat is a school that actually cares about sports and the health of their students. In reality, we've had to ask and push the school administration time and time again to allow us time to train. Instead of supporting us, they just act as a barrier we have to pass through. All this because Choueifat views sport and physical activity as a deterrent to the learning process.
The tournament itself was great, but only something like 600/29000 students attended. That's about 2%. SABIS is publicising 2% of their students. They're putting 2% of their fittest students on show just to advertise the school. It's not a majority, nor is it anywhere near an accurate representation of what Choueifatis are really like. It's just blatantly false advertising.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
The Books. (Part 2)
But that's not the issue I'm going to address today. This morning, while we were revising Physics (or trying to), we realised that we were flipping through eight different books. EIGHT different books. "University Physics 11E", "Physics Level N Core Questions", "Physics Level N Course Extra Practice Questions", "Physics Level N Electricity and Relativity", "Physics Level N Mechanics M2", "Physics Level N Kinematics and Waves", "Physics Level O Core Course" and "Physics Course Level N/O Basic Questions". Usually I wouldn't mind so much, but the thing is that EVERYTHING in the last five books was already in the first textbook.
Why do we buy so many books then? The only reasonable explanation I can logically deduce is that Choueifat wants revenue. They want to profit as much as possible. At times, they seem to be more like a firm than a school. I understand that it's a private school, but shouldn't the students' educations still be their primary concern?
Monday, March 19, 2007
The Brainwashing Sessions. (Part 3)
"[You know you went to Choueifat if] You wondered if Mr. Germanos really did have friends in the CIA and the FBI." - Choueifat=Hell? Facebook GroupSee, Mr G likes to tell us anecdotes about his so called friends and family. These can range from his son who cryed when he fell down the stairs, to his friends in the CIA who were simply "amazed" by the SABIS system. Well they might not be that far from the truth; I mean, I was amazed as well. He tells us about how inefficient and unproductive other schools are. He tells us about how Ivy League and Oxbridge univerities are "hungry" for students like us. Basically, he talks about Choueifat as if it were more than just an insignificant speck-stain on the planet.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Choueifat Approved Activities
My friends and I have a total of at least eighteen card decks currently with the head supervisor. Why we can't play "Spades" or "Bluff" in the breaks, I'll never understand. Seriously, we're not ALL gambling addicts who are just looking for a fix at school. If that were the case, I assure you that we would have found some other way to do it. Gambling isn't really Choueifat's main problem with playing cards because even bloody Pokemon Cards were confiscated from the primary kids!
What could the motive be behind banning cards then? Read the excerpt from the rules I quoted above: "students can always take part in a more productive activity". Choueifat wants the students to be PRODUCTIVE in their breaktimes. They want them to put down anything and everything they enjoy and go back to WORK. Children are enlisted as hall monitors (read: guards) and "environment prefects" (read: cleaners) instead of being allowed to play tag. Some students are actually brainwashed into thinking that their duties are fun.
How sick and twisted.
Friday, March 02, 2007
The Books. (Part 1)
The year before I first moved to Choueifat, I read the likes of Beowulf and The Merchant of Venice in school. Once I moved in the eighth grade, we had to read biographies of Henry the Great and Thomas Jefferson. First of all, who the hell assigns eighth graders to read biographies? They should be given famous creative literary works instead of simplified life stories of politicians. Secondly, the books were something like 80 pages thick with double spaced fonts. I was reading books that size at age 10, and I was still reading a lot less than most of the people in my grade at the time.
Along with these “Class Reader” books, we had Dictionaries and Vocabulary Lists picking on particular words in the stories. We had to memorise definitions and circle the correct answer in the exam, regardless of how obscure the definition would be or how irrelevant the word was. We would then proceed to forget the words after the exam. This may work to some extent in the lower primary grades, but one cannot expect high school students to put up with it.
The literature syllabus in Choueifat needs to be thoroughly revised and updated. The “SABIS approved” class readers aren’t doing much good for the students at all.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Positive And Negative Points.
How this system works (or fails to work, rather) is through "positive and negative points". Each detention and failed exam is considered a negative point. To "delete" these negative points, students are supposed to spend one hour of their time in an exam hall, whether it be in a lunch break, afterschool or on a weekend. Most of this time is generally spent staring at and scribbling on a desk, all the time having unplugged surveillance cameras staring at you from all corners of the room. Choueifat figures that leaving the students isolated for an hour will teach them that what they did was wrong.
Positive points are gained after a student signs up for a club, activity, peer tutoring or as a prefect. After this, no matter how much work they do, they will gain a certain number of positive points every week. It's ridiculous how useless the system is if it rewards anyone who signs up, rather than those who work.
After all these points are tallied at the end of a term (when the student gets his or her report card), one of two generic comments is given. Either the first "This student needs to participate more in Student Life Activities" or "Excellent involvement in Student Life Activities". Sadly, neither truly reflects what's happening.
Monday, February 12, 2007
They Took Our Sports Away. (Part 3)
Back to the point, I've been happier than usual. I've been scoring higher on exams and I feel a lot more motivated in general. I'm now a lot more determined and confident in everything I do. In class, I can manage to stay awake longer than usual. I don't feel like a lazy git any more. Somewhere in the back of my mind, it feels like a wisp of school spirit is actually forming. Why? Because of sports.
Sports should be a huge part of school life. Staff and students alike should be rooting for the home team against rival schools, all for the sake of healthy competition. Sports releases endorphins in the brain, creating a sense of well being. It's completely necessary for a successful school to make sure that their students engage in physical activity frequently. Again, I stress the fact that school, as well as life in general, isn't all about academics.
Most of my classmates and teachers believe that PE should be compulsary in schools in grades 11 and 12. In Choueifat, it's obviously not. Hell, it's not even optional. PE is slowly removed from our timetables in Grade 10 and by Grade 11, it's gone. It's not even available as an elective subject. Along with Arts and Music (and anything else that has anything to do with liberty), Sports is not recognised as a "real subject" in the school. It's sad because after the regional tournaments, We're going to have to revert back to our lusterless Choueifati lives.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
A Lack of Art
Then it happened. I was forced to move to Choueifat in the eighth grade. Among many things, I was shocked to learn that I would only have one lesson of art a week, on Tuesday (The fourth day of the school week at the time). After a long, grueling three days of mostly textbook math and science, I wondered how creative the art sessions would have to be to balance it out. I waited and waited and eventually it came.
Walking down the corridor to the art room with the rest of the class, I asked a new friend of mine what they last did in art class. He raised an eyebrow at me and laughed. Being the idiotic eighth grader I was, I laughed along and continued walking down. I was among the last ones to reach the room. What I saw there can most clearly be described as chaos.
You see, art is barely even considered a subject at Choueifat. It’s more of a free lesson where you can just sit around and chat with your friends or grab a piece of paper and start folding. The teacher would just aimlessly walk around the room, mumbling, mostly in Arabic. The only art I ever did learn in Choueifat was origami, from a classmate.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
An Ex-Choueifati Speaks
Highly noticable is the lack of true "student activities" such as sports and the arts. Students are able to take a minimal amount of these activities during the first 10 grades of the school, but as the students go through the system these activites are replaced by more hours of testing, and this has an adverse effect on the overall education of the student:
1) It is well noted in many psychological journals that creativity and the arts are an integral part of the learning process, and that participating in art and playing an instrument help a student to learn better in the classroom.
2) Students who go through this system end up as "educational robots" instead of "elites" as studying is emphasized above all else. These students rarely have a true hobby or interest that they regularly practice, and any such activity is frowned upon by the school as a "deterrant to the learning process" that takes time away from studying.
3) Another important part of a child's growth process is left out by the SABIS system: social skills. Rarely does a class involve any interaction between students, and if it does it is more of a informal conversation than a true interaction that would be found in the real world. For example, public speaking is one topic that is not covered in the system. Even though the school has "group leaders" and other such functions, no real leadership abilities are learned, as everying ultimately falls on the teacher.
This guy is a legend. Cheers!
Saturday, January 13, 2007
The Points Method
- Teacher explains numbered concept from textbook, as listed in Lesson Plan or Pacing Chart (Sometimes they differ, yet we are never told which one to follow.)
- Teacher directs general question on explained concept to class.
- Students work on the questions individually and check in assigned "groups" of four or five.
- The "group leader" answers the teacher.
I for one, have yet to attend a single class where the method is 100% enforced. I would love to attend a lesson by Mr. G, just to see if he actually practices what he preaches.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
I See Stalinism!
I’ve had a few e-mails describing atrocious Choueifati supervisor behavior and decided to share a couple with you all.
Mr. Salim from Al-Ain Choueifat has apparently stopped some children from playing tag with the opposite sex. He has also ignored reports of the PE teacher there throwing a metal rod at a student in grade 9. Mr. Khalaf from Dubai Choueifat forces students to trim or remove their facial hair and attempts to control the length of all students’ hair. Not too long and not to short. If students protest, they are given detentions and told that it’s “the school rules” by “upper authorities”. I see Stalinism.
There are many other stories on these unnecessarily brutal supervisors in the Choueifat schools. I choose not to disclose them until I can background them. In the meantime, stay tuned as I try to log what else I see in the Choueifat schools.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Some Mr. G Quotes
I'm feeling very lazy, so all I'm going to do this week is post up some of Mr. G's quotes from the Student Life video conference last Saturday. Enjoy!
"Your enemy would say: "Let's go home and have fun."."
"We want students to enjoy school by giving them more work"
[Referring to us senior prefects]"You are the elite. You are the selected. You should do the dirty work."
"The heavy guns are over there; feel free to use them."
These are all geniune Mr. G-quotes. I have a few more (Did he actually expect me to listen to what he was saying rather than jot down notes for my anti-choueifat blog?), but the four above would be the cream of the crop.
I don't think I even need to comment. Really, the quotes speak for themselves.
Friday, December 08, 2006
The Regional Dictator. (Part 3)
Mr. G is a man who likes to judge things on his own. He never values the opinions and input of others anywhere near how much he values his own. I don’t recall him ever taking a student’s opinion seriously, whether in person or over the video conference. No-one can influence the regional dictator.
This post is dedicated to his habit of taking stabs at the idea of sentimental value. He is possibly the most cynical person on Earth, assessing everything only by its material worth. I remember a lecture when he ridiculed the price of diamonds, Rolls Royce cars, Rolexes and paintings by Picasso as opposed to fake copies. Normally, I wouldn’t mind if someone voiced this opinion to me, but Mr. G had the nerve to broadcast it to 600 students and not even allow us to disagree. Basically because it’s the SABIS way. Little does he realize that most of the students have parents with diamonds on their fingers...
We’re not debating the idea of sentimentality; we’re going against the apparent authority Mr. G has to try to force his opinions on us.
Thanks for the e-mail
Saturday, November 25, 2006
The Brainwashing Sessions. (Part 2)
“Choueifat is the best school in the world!”
What do you think when you hear “Careers” or “Advising”? University guidance? Information on courses? Major career fields? Perhaps just a simple Q&A session for the students to ask for help in their decisions?
Hahaha, are you kidding me? Through almost the whole Careers and Advising courses, Mr. G decided that it would be more fun to teach us Biology and Cell Division, because apparently we need it more.
Honestly, the closest thing the Choueifat schools have to a real Career counselor or advisor is the “University Department” in the Student Life Organisation. Some schools don’t even have that, and are forced to just turn to this chap broadcasting himself live to something like 600 students a day.
One wonders what the point of Careers and Advising is if we don’t get any relevant advice.
Thanks for the e-mail.
Friday, November 17, 2006
A Taste Of Choueifati Logic.
Rarely is there proper reasoning behind the decisions Choueifat makes. One can only imagine the conversation that took place before they began on a new branch in Erbil, Iraq.
“You know, I don’t think developed or developing countries are the way to go for us. They’re not getting us enough money.”
“Yeah I know! Perhaps we should try war torn countries.”
“War torn countries? That's ingenious! How about Afghanistan?”
“No, they’re closer to recovering than some other countries.”
“Oh, I know! Iraq!”
“Perfect. Let’s get to it!”
Not that it affects the current Choueifati students so much, but being able to laugh at and mock the school board’s decisions is a harsh deterrent to the reputation of the school. There are hundreds of other examples of twisted Choueifati logic that could simply be described as “stupid”.
The following question was on a Grade 10 Business Studies exam:
“Which of the following are not disadvantages of nationalization as opposed to privatization?” Way to go Choueifat. You’re confusing hundreds of students with your own stupidity and you’re showing off the fact that you are incapable of the making even the most simple decisions.
Friday, November 10, 2006
They Took Our Sports Away. (Part 2)
An anonymous friend recently pointed out to me how completely wrong it was of Choueifat to keep us from making use of our talents and ambitions. How they strive to block off everything but those utterly worthless SABIS books.
They say that they want us to take part in as many extracurricular activities outside school as possible. Obviously, they hadn’t thought it through before they told us that. How are we supposed to do anything outside Choueifat when we have 9 hour school days plus travel time?
“On the weekend?” you may suggest. You would be wrong. Our weekends are considered to be working days. If the school wishes, they have the power to drag us into school for random prefect chores and exams, or just for their own sadistic pleasure.
I recall many an incident when a fellow student would be forced to abandon his or her dreams because Choueifat simply wanted him or her to. Guitar classes, stage performances, sport training and even charity fundraisers have always been frowned upon by the Choueifati administration. Anything “skipped” on weekends or after school has always had severe repercussions.
I thank my anonymous friend for pointing this out to me. Normally, this would have caught my attention, but it’s just such a typical Choueifati trait.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Choueifat Needs To Understand. (Part 1)
Choueifat needs to understand what the students really need. How far will their studies alone take them? If the students are to do exactly what Choueifat wants them to, they’ll end up becoming outright unsociable morons. As such, eventually in their career, they’ll hit a wall. You can’t get too far at all unless you have these skills Choueifat is so hesitant to provide.
Later on, it becomes more about how you deal with others. How convincing you are. How decisive you are. How you present yourself. Choueifat can’t put these skills into textbooks or tests. Hell, they don’t want to. Their mission is to pilot their students into university and then abandon them completely, regardless of whether the student is doing well or not. But there’s no need to worry, they’ll be sure to let you know if any are doing well in the form of those pieces of paper that they call “achievements”.
Friday, October 27, 2006
The Regional Dictator. (Part 2)
Picture a Grade 12 Advising Lesson.
“One piece of advice that helped me through university and life: Always do the opposite of what your enemy wants you to do.”
I heard sniggers from all around the video conferencing room. It was yet another memorable quote by Mr. G.
He went on to talk about how all Choueifatis are to hate other students because “they are our enemies” in that they compete with us in external examinations and places in universities. To even suggest that students in other schools want us to fail so that they will do better proves how ignorant and cynical Mr. G truly is.How could one even imagine how he expects us to hold a grain of respect for him when all he “advises” us to do is to be misanthropic?
I know this is a short post, but I have weeklies to study for...
Friday, October 20, 2006
AMS Tests And Weekly Exams
One of the scariest facts about Choueifat to newcomers is the number of exams and tests they will be doing a week. I can still remember my first day at Choueifat, laughing when my friend told me that we were going to have an English test, third period. Then I realized he wasn’t kidding…
The average student in the seventh grade has something along the lines of four weekly AMS tests and two weekly periodic exams. By the tenth grade, this generally escalates to something like 9 weekly AMS tests and three to four weekly periodic exams. Every single one counts towards the final grade point average.
A failed AMS would mean a “make-up” exam after school. Failure in the make-up would mean a weekend “retest”. And on the weekend, the student would have to keep repeating it until he or she would pass.
Is there really a point? I mean, we are pretty well prepared for written exams by the end of grade 12, but sacrificing 13 hours a week solely on exams seems a little excessive. Not to mention how tired the students can be after three hours in the exam hall. Then they expect us to concentrate in class for the rest of the day.
What a truly amazing system!
Friday, October 13, 2006
The Regional Dictator. (Part 1)
The Regional Director of the ISC branches in the Gulf is man of many names. “Mr. G”, “Ratman”, "Germaniac" and “Jumanji” to name a few (Sadly, I’m not exaggerating.). I have been, and will be referring to him as Mr. G in my blog for the sake of confidentiality. His name though, is not of much importance. We are supposed to judge people by their actions and this man’s actions have heavily affected the last twenty-odd year groups of Choueifati students.
“Choueifat is the best school in the world!”
He would tell us, over and over (and over and over). Advising, Careers, and any other videoconference he would host. He would take things like the average graduating GPA in the UK and compare it to Choueifat’s, thinking that the students wouldn’t realize how misleading the statistics were. Of course we’re going to have higher Physics grades when the average UK student is allowed to have a life!
“Choueifat is the best school in the world!”
The videoconferences were also filled with post-graduate stories of Mr. G’s private club of “Power Prefects”. (Haha!). The basic layout would be “Dear Mr. G, I would like to thank you and the SABIS system for the huge advantage you have given me in university. Yours faithfully, X”. It would be painfully easy to tell that X was lying, and that he/she simply sent the letter in to get it published in the Advising/Careers textbooks. Or, it could be one of the rare freak students who Mr. G had managed to completely transform into a pure Choueifati. Truly sad stories.
I think that any Choueifati would agree with me when I say that Mr. G is probably one of the most interesting people on the planet. I mean, who else can so blindly believe in the SABIS system and everything it stands for?
Saturday, October 07, 2006
The Brainwashing Sessions.
In these classes, we are supposed to be taught that it is good to be a snitch. That it is good to get other students into trouble, no matter how minimal a mistake they make. This is a serious moral and social problem in some Choueifat schools, especially in the younger grades, when they haven't matured enough to know better. You would probably find that a large portion of the comments on this blog are complaints about it (See: Mr. G and his “Shadow Government” or “Power Prefects” as he likes to call them).
I often discuss with my friends what would happen if a brainwashed grade eight Choueifati were to move to a non-Choueifati school. When it actually does happen, we could take bets on how long it would be before he or she becomes a social outcast…
Friday, October 06, 2006
The Opinion Of An Older Non-Choueifati.
Spoon says (7:06 PM):
i think my old schools going ur way though
Spoon says (7:06 PM):
new principal is an ass
Spoon says (7:06 PM):
turning the students into drones
Spoon says (7:06 PM):
they just dont understand
Spoon says (7:07 PM):
by doing that they r robbing u
Spoon says (7:07 PM):
of social skills essentially
I couldn’t agree more. Although in our case it’s not so much the staff. It’s the entire SABIS system (and the ideology of Mr. G…).
Spoon was telling me about how his or her school used to be more focused on extracurricular activites rather than academics in the past. It was one of the top schools in the city then, and it still is today. I wonder why Choueifat cannot ease on the academic side and still maintain a school of high standards.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Detentions And The "Discipline Sheet" System.
Of course, since our breaks are usually full of “extra” (read: mandatory) classes, we usually can’t do lunchtime detentions. After-school or even weekend detentions are frequent for students in all grades. These detentions tend to pile up, forcing students to stay seated in a dead quiet exam hall with a textbook for three to four hours at a time.
Apparently, Choueifat didn’t think that having classes from 8:00am to 4:00pm (or even 5:00pm, depending on classes.) every day was enough to build a student body that despises the system.
Monday, October 02, 2006
They Took Our Sports Away. (Part 1)
It's funny how they try to make maths problems sound less dull by using words like "Exercises" and "Activities". It's probably just another daft Choueifati attempt to compensate for the complete lack of physical activity in the higher grades.
In Choueifat, most students are forced to “drop” PE in the tenth grade. In the eleventh, there is no mention of sport or PE whatsoever. If the students wish to play some kind of sport, they have to go through a long and grueling process of registering a “club” at the SLO office.
Not that we even have enough time to play anything. In an average grade 12 student school week (44 hours), we usually get about two (three if we’re lucky) free periods in which we can throw a ball around. Of course, we’re advised to either work for SLO or study in an exam hall for the duration of the free period. Generally, by the time we’ve arranged to get a basketball or a football, we’ve wasted about half the break…