Yesterday is gone. Forget about it, move on!
Only foolish people religiously cling onto ideas and customs of yesterday.
I want to open your eyes to a truth: everything we can see today was created at one point of the other. By everything, I mean everything: schools, politics, houses, roads and anything you can see, touch or feel.
So also, as the world evolves it becomes obvious that these things need to change. When these changes are imminent, narrow minded folks always fight it. Hanging on to yesterday’s ideas.
Crude lanterns of yesterday have given way to brilliant rechargeable lanterns of today. The earliest computers were so big they occupied large buildings all by themselves, today they are so small that they can share your pocket with your keys and wallet.
Yesterday is gone. Let us forget about it.
People who are out to make a dent on the world do not live today using yesterday’s ideas. They seek to advance the world in the best interest of the masses.
Everything you can see today was the best work possible yesterday, however as today dawns, what new works can be built as our technology improves? What do we have that we can make better?
Currently, the way we get educated is by going to school. The average university graduate would have spent about 16 years in the confines of a school, that is a lot of time! That also gups a lot of money! Money that is not really available.
I interacted briefly with a secondary school (JSS 2) drop out yesterday, he could neither read in English nor Yoruba. He understood me if I spoke in English, but he could not read the written language.
Which schools has he been attending??
I think the truth is just that the richer your parents are, the better the education you can get.
And from my own little sense of justice, that is not right!
A child should not be punished for the mistakes their parents made and hence fail to get access to real education. The parents cannot be blamed, you cannot give what you do not have! It not wisdom to enroll kids in schools you do not have the financial might to cover.
University education, the basic height anyone should aspire to get to is not so helpful these days. The cram, pass and forget syndrome has eaten deep into the very fabric of the nation. Every year, thousands of graduates join the labour market dead on delivery. The industry essentially has to re-train the graduates. This makes you ask yourself, what was the point of spending 4 – 7 years to get a degree when you will still need to be trained all over?
Smart undergraduates are now working hard to gain additional skills and certification while still enrolled in schools. Smart computer science students are learning real programming and hacking together apps. The seeds for the app industry itself were invented in 2007 when Steve Jobs and Apple unveiled the first iPhone, why it is not yet offered as a course in standard Nigerian Universities is still beyond me. Other students are buying business books and teaching themselves Entrepreneurship 101 with a view to start their own businesses after they graduate.
I think we can see what this is all pointing towards: education needs a serious makeover. The current model is simple broken! People are enrolling and graduating from schools every year, but very few knowledge is actually imparted via classrooms.
To me, the solution seems obvious; some smart folks like YOU need to sit down and ask yourself: With our current technology and resources, how can we re-create education in such a way that every child regardless of their background can gain access quality education?
Yesterday is gone, we need to face today. The era of self education without need for physical teachers might be upon us.
Remember, the future of more than 60 million children depends on it.
P.S.
This article had to be written after my elder sister, a teacher by heart criticized the idea behind digitizing schools. I hope this Post changes her mind.
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