NU #5: A Call for Higher Learning by T. N. Gaudi

NU #5

2 February 2013

MBAH 10-B / Entrepreneurship

A Call for Higher Learning

(A New Perspective on the Educational System)

By T. N. Gaudi

One of the significant drivers of societal progress is the quality of education it provides to the community. As common wisdom puts it, garbage in, garbage out. Peoples' attitudes and behaviors, especially of the younger generation, hinge critically on the standard of education given them. In light of this, it is important that an education system should essentially be capable of supporting and sustaining individual growth and development. It should be viewed to do just that rather than be seen only as a requirement to secure a decent career that provides a relatively acceptable amount of income. Since humanity is characterized by its uniqueness and diversity, and since each and everyone of us have different interests and views on life's meaning and purpose, our educational system should be able to adapt to strengthen our inherent talents and capabilities.

Looking at the current setup of our educational system however, it seems that it has a very linear and boxed approach of transferring knowledge and know-how. It tries to make learning more convenient and 'effective' by making an educational structure that is broken down into levels and into specific subjects of interests. This may make learning more manageable, however, it seems to lack in the integration of the different and varied competencies that have been taught over the years of formal learning. This is remarkable since the quality of integration of the different competencies directly affect an individual's eptitude or a person's capability of applying the various skills that have been taught them. More importantly, our educational system should be able to help and empower individuals to discover and rediscover what they are really meant to do as inherently capable beings.

The solution therefore to this dilemma is that our educational system should, and even early on in the lower levels of formal education, be geared towards effectively exposing its students to the whole spectrum of possible interests to pursue and develop. After having them exposed to the myriad of possibilities, the system must be able to let them focus in and immerse themselves on the one interest that they think they are inclined to pursue - one that is aligned with their inherent strengths, personal values and vision. It is important also that the system would allow for experimentation so that one can be immersed in as many interests as one wishes to be. This particular setup will surely empower individuals to learn to be the best at what they were meant to do naturally in the first place.

Our educational system should be reengineered so that more time is placed on programs that expose students to real world activities and interests. The system should be able to integrate more immersion programs such as apprenticeship activities and on-the-job exposures. This way they can harness the power of experiential learning and action research. I cannot stress more however that this should be implemented especially at the lower levels of formal education. This will enable the younger generation to have a head start in life and be on track in terms of personal and professional growth.   3.