Education is a continuous process that has been there from time immemorial. In the development of human beings, we receive and pass education and the knowledge we acquire from it time and again. The education industry, however, is one of the sectors that should be equipped with distinct and established values and ethics. It should also be well equipped with legal outlines that are visible to assist in the regulation of its distribution and exchange process. There are many common contemporary issues of ethics in the field of education that the receivers and givers of education often face as well as education management institutes. Parents and guardians of students are also affected by some of these ethical issues. In this study, however, as an education board member, I will analyse three contemporary issues of ethics plaguing the education system as well as solutions to these issues.

The first contemporary ethical issue that primarily affects education is the choice of teacher. The everlasting satisfaction between parents and the principal or school management regarding the teacher a particular student in question should be given as a tutor is a crucial moral education issue (Cowie, and Pecherek, 2017). Some students tend to skip classes or even sleeping in class when a particular teacher steps in for the day’s lesson. This kind of behaviour is morally unacceptable as it is more likely to result in poor performance and lowered standards of the school.

School uniforms have also raised severe moral issues when it comes to students. There was a debate on whether they should be made compulsory or not. Students not wearing uniforms end up looking like ordinary citizens. In a particular setting, you find a group of students with coloured hair, casual attire and even immodest body piercing. Some advocates are against the policy of making school uniforms compulsory since they argue that clothing has got nothing to do with knowledge delivery (Cowie, and Pecherek, 2017). In some public institutions where students wear uniforms, some students have adopted the behaviour of pinning and slimming their uniforms. As a result, the uniforms become too tight which is against the code of school ethics.

Discipline issues have also been a problem in plaguing education. Some students develop an attitude of being rude to the teachers and even bullying other students. Many at times they regard themselves as the ‘school owners’. Bullying on its own is a severe case of indiscipline that requires thorough punishment (Cowie, and Pecherek, 2017). Other indiscipline cases include chewing in class, noise making, defiance and missing classes.

There is however ethical solutions and safeguards to these kinds of moral issues in education that will ensure these issues do not become a problem in education. As one of the education board members in the matter of the choice of the teacher, I suggest that the school board should analyse why a particular student behaves in some way towards a specific teacher. If it so happens that the teacher maybe does not deliver information adequately or is biased, the school board should effect a replacement strategy. If not, the school board should impose strict ethical conducts for the teachers to follow failure to which the board will be forced to transfer or discontinue that particular teacher.

For the case of dressing code while in school, the school board should enlist a strict dressing code. It should come out clear on what students are not supposed to wear while in school. The board should also impose strict rules concerning the dressing code like suspensions when one fails to adhere to these rules or in worst case scenario even expulsions. This will be far much better than the idea of imposing a total compulsion of school uniforms in public institutions or holding onto a liberal stance on the kind of attire to wear while in school.

Being the school board, we should impose zero-tolerance policy and second chance policy to ensure discipline in school.  Better academic performance is likely to arise through the implementation of second chance policy. Zero tolerance policy is effective in curbing behavioural and antisocial in disciplinary actions such as carrying dangerous weapons to school and also bullying.

References

Cowie, H., & Pecherek, A. (2017). Counselling: approaches and issues in education. Routledge.