18/06/2020 - Education

KEY POINTS

·         Our 1.3 billion people—with an average age of just 29, ten years lower than in China—have more active person-years of life and work ahead of them than any other nation in history.

·         India can do justice to this historic opportunity only if we invest seriously in the education of our very large and young population. This is necessary at the individual level—to discover purpose, acquire knowledge, develop skills, and at the societal level—to encourage freedom of thought and egalitarianism as the foundations of our society, and instill a spirit of evidence-based inquiry and exploration to push the frontiers of knowledge.

·         But seven out of eight 18-year-olds are not in college today because they need to work and earn incomes. These young workers also need to build a foundation of life-skills just as full-time students do, even while they work.

·         This must be addressed by the second pathway, where students can learn largely online, but also be part of a cohort and community that meets and collaborates periodically in a university setting, say on weekends; or, to take a rural example, during annual farming downtimes between the rabi and kharif crop seasons.

·         Thanks to the scalability of online learning and the limited dependence of this pathway on physical university resources, we may be able to serve several of these seven 18-year olds who are unserved today.

·         The third pathway must deliver employable skills, which are by nature transient in today’s world. Learning to write code today in Python, a programming language, may not be relevant even five years from now when other technologies and languages might gain dominance.

·         The onus of imparting employable skills must fall on companies, not universities, since they are the end-users of the skills, and many already conduct expansive in-house training programmes.

·         Companies must be encouraged to open up these skill courses online, conduct online assessment and provide formal credentialing. These courses would find takers not just among college-age students, but among lifelong learners of all ages who need to stay relevant and employable in changing contexts.

·         In a country like India, these three pathways are bound to overlap. They are not mutually exclusive. A firm and sustained policy commitment to investment in the development of these pathways is essential, with companies being considered as integral a part of the higher education ecosystem as universities.

Sir good evening,

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Please review sir 

 Traditionally, the purpose of education systems around the world have followed a linear logic of prioritisation — academic purpose- expanding schooling access, political and civic purposes, socialization, and economic purposes.

     Covid-19 has given us a reason to question -are they adequate with the rapidly changing world- to effectively utilize human capital in a distinct ways, to achieve goals, develop and remain innovative.

>>> Need of the changing world :

- the key priority that education policy seek to address is to make sure that "schooling isn’t just an end for students, but a ladder to opportunity".

- the larger set of skills that are needed in a changing world, includes - critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving.

- Enhance the campus experience of existing universities in India - which are in need of reform, with "technology and digital learning".

- "Online learning" should be promoted at large because in crisis like situations such as global coronavirus pandemic- when educational institutions have been shut, there is a need that students must opt for the online mode to continue their studies and instructions. 

-  Companies must be encouraged to open up "employable skill courses online, conduct online assessment and provide formal credentialing" to not just among college-age students, but among lifelong learners of all ages who need to stay relevant and employable in changing contexts.

>>> Conclusions :

Covid-19 crisis has opened up new possibilities to develop aforementioned paths- to fulfil India’s massive human capital potential for the betterment of the world and society at large. Only then can we live the Indian dream.

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