Experts call for radical overhaul of education system

DUBAI: Education experts from various parts of the world advocated a paradigm shift in the current education system and the way knowledge is imparted in schools the world over.

Participating in a panel discussion titled “Education Technologies and the Future” on the second day of the Knowledge Summit, experts rejected the current style of schooling which came into practice over a century ago.

Professor Tony Wagner, expert in Residence at Harvard University’s new Innovation Lab, said that people must realise that the schooling system practised across the world today was created over 100 years ago.

“We still have the industrial era schools, when schools were created to overcome one problem – to give huge numbers of people basic maths and literacy skills. But, it is getting in the way of the most important skills needed today. It is challenging to transform schools from industrial era to knowledge era.”

“We are born with a capacity for creative thinking, but then something happens, and that something is school. School curbs curiosity and creative thinking. The challenge is not to improve schools. If the production line is churning out the wrong product, we don’t extend it ... we shut it down,” he said.

He stressed that today we live not in the knowledge era, but in the innovation era. Thus skills will matter more than knowledge.

“The four core skills for the future were – critical thinking skills, the ability to collaborate, the ability to communicate and the ability to solve problems creatively,” he said.

His observation was seconded by Elias Bou Saab, Minister of Education in Lebanon. He said that the whole world requires a “revolution” in education.

“We need to put schools on trial. They haven’t changed in the past 150 years. There is no consideration for individuality,” he said.

He agreed that technology offered solutions. “Through technology we can address these challenges. We can make curricula more intuitive, more engaging, more empowering and more efficient,” he said.

Dr Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman of the Arab States Research and Education Network (ARSEN), stressed on the need of going digital. He explained that people today live in two parallel worlds – the ‘natural one’ and the ‘virtual’ one.”

“The virtual world is the real one. Our economic and social problems could all be solved through radical shake-up in education and a new knowledge era. The digital citizen is the future. If you are not a digital citizen, you are not part of this world,” he said.

He cited the example of Finland – today widely regarded as having the most innovative, and the best education, system in the world. He said that Finland and Jordan have a similar population.

“But Finland has a GDP of $180 billion and Jordan $38 billion. Why? Because 40 years ago, Finland decided to create and sell knowledge; we decided to buy it. Today we want to create wealth – and wealth comes from knowledge,” he added.

Moderator Prasad Ram, founder and CEO of Gooru – a non-profit education start-up – explained how his organisation was harnessing technology to make education more student-orientated. He termed his technology a GPS for learning.

“Now, you can make a wrong turn, take the wrong exit, and the GPS puts you back in the right direction. Today, education is all about that destination. But it should really focus, on the student, and the journey,” he added.

Hussain Bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi, UAE Minister of Education and Chairman of the National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, agreed with the experts and said that when it comes to electronic learning, this is something we cannot afford to ignore. We have to find effective ways of using this, or risk being left behind.

He added, “Today, education and technology are intrinsically linked. They are two sides of the same coin. And this generation is different to ones before – they are constantly updating themselves on today’s trends.”

He said that the modern education system must be student-centred, and that the UAE’s commitment to strategies that focus on creativity and innovation was making this a reality.

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