YOU CAN interpret it any way you like, but the bottom line in learning is for the graduate to be able to get a job or to run a business or even do both.
Needless to say, being able to practice a profession is also a form of being in business. You can call it any way you like, but the entire process of learning should be considered as a preparation for being a good employee or a good businessman or both.
On the side of employment, one of the biggest issues is the so-called mismatch, a phenomenon that I yet have to fathom. Roughly said, the government says that there are many jobs that are open, but those who are applying for these jobs do not have the qualifications that would match the needs of the employers.
Depending on how you would look at it, the so-called mismatch could either be looked at as an indictment of the entire educational system, or it could be seen as a general statement that many of the graduates are simply incapable of learning and that is why they were unable to acquire the skill sets that are needed by the employers.
Between these two sides, I would tend to side with the students because I believe that under the right conditions, they would be capable of learning the skills that are needed to make them employable.
Having said that, I would still say that the entire educational system is the one to blame and instead, I will just say that it is time for the system to invent itself.
The mantra that public education could not be improved because the system lacks classrooms, teachers and books almost sounds the same as the mantra that rice production could not be improved because of the lack of irrigation, farm to market roads and post-harvest facilities.
Obviously, teachers will never become obsolete, but their roles and methods may have to change. Classrooms may still be needed, but maybe not as much and not too many. It is safer to say that books would still be needed, but would either be in paper form or electronic form or both.
Going back to the rice production analogy, irrigation would still be needed, but not in the form of paddies that we see now. Roads would still be needed, but the local people may develop the political will to build them, instead of relying on the central government.
Post-harvest facilities? These will become smaller and more affordable.
In theory, all learning could now be done online, except that the students would supposedly lose the so-called “classroom experience” or “campus experience”. Even if all learning could now be done online, it may still be better to have some onsite components, even if these are done only at the end of each semester or year. (To be continued/PN)
