Discussion 1:
In international education rankings. Based on most recent studies, the researchers ranked the U.S. number 25 in reading and science, number 40 in math. The decline in performance of American students is obvious from grades 4 to 12 comparing to their peers in other countries. A movement to a higher grade level is associated with a greater decline. And this is along with a great spending on education. What is going wrong here?
We all know that improving the education quality helps achieve a variety of economic and social development goals on different levels. In your opinion how can we improve the quality of schooling?
Discussion 2:
On average Americans work 350 hours, nearly one year more every five years. Europeans, on the other hand, enjoy about ten years more free time during their work life than do their American counterparts. In Europe , workers receive an average six weeks of paid vacation while American average is about two weeks. EAch year more and more Americans get no vacation at all. Working long hours is causing the premature death of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. The WHO study revealed that people who work at least 55 hours a week have a 42 per cent increased risk of stroke, and a 19 per cent increased chance of heart disease. Researchers analyzed data from workforces in 154 countries.
Overall, workweeks became longer, female work participation rate have increased and vacation times have shortened. Employers argue that this is the result of increases in hiring costs, training costs, or employee health insurance costs. In your opinion, is this the result of voluntary worker choice or is it a decision imposed on workers by their employers, or both? What about productivity? How do we make employees work harder without making them work longer?
Big companies, such as Google, Facebook, Huffington Post, and National Wide Planning, all started to encourage their employees to take a mid-day snooze for about 20 minutes. They have even invested in energy pods which are unique chairs designed for power naps, allowing employees to recline and block out sights and sounds from the environment around them. Companies are recognizing the power of short naps between 1 and 4 p.m. Employees admit that when they have a quick rest, they're able to approach the afternoon with greater force, increasing overall productivity. Do you support the idea of more companies offering power naps? What professions or fields do you think would especially benefit from it?