Our education system has lagged behind for far too long. Leading companies and thought leaders are turning to skills-based learning. Here’s why.

Education is an integral part of any society. It is not a luxury, rather a necessity to survive in this competitive world and build modern society’s foundations—a society built on principles of peace and mutual respect.

But is the current curriculum bringing the desired results?

Unfortunately, the answer is no.

Despite rapid advancements in technology, we have more problems than ever before. Educational systems are now facing a major problem. They simply can’t keep up with the demands, desires, and needs of a rapidly advancing society.

The Need For Change

People have more complicated lives than ever before, yet our universities haven’t evolved to address these issues and find the solution.

Rather, schools are preparing kids for a world that no longer exists in our current reality. The school system is up to 5 years behind the time, therefore failing those students stuck in the traditional education system. Education has now become a business to earn money and get rich, rather than being a noble cause of building societies.

There is a need to declare an education emergency!

Boring content is one of the major issues

One of the root causes of all the prevailing issues is the boring content that is taught in all educational institutions. Children and millennial nowadays have shorter attention spans due to the excessive use of smartphones.

A research conducted by Microsoft demonstrated that the average attention span of an individual has shrunk from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2017. That is less than the attention span of a goldfish, which stands at 9 seconds. This study has profound implications for thought leaders and the entire educational fraternity.

Gone are the days of the teacher standing in front of the whiteboard and going on for an hour. We need to create captivating content that addresses the issue of low attention levels while addressing the challenges of the modern era.

When you look around, you see every sector revolutionized by technology. We have moved from riding on horses to commuting in cars and airplanes. However, unfortunately, the classrooms have unchanged.

We all now possess devices with unimaginable processing power in our pockets. The Internet has made information abundant and extremely accessible. Advanced technologies will soon use this information to solve complex problems, but the education system is not teaching our students the skills needed to work with technology to create effective and positive change in society.

All of these make the current curriculum absolutely redundant. We must begin preparing our students by equipping them with skills they will need to survive 5 years from now, not 5 years ago.

So, what is the way forward?

The only solution- as mentioned above- is to use technology to create an affordable and accessible skills-based education system. A system that addresses the challenges of modern society and teaches in-demand skills to students along with equipping them with the know-how of the latest technology.

Not only that, but there is also a dire need to teach soft skills and critical thinking instead of merely focusing on traditional subjects. For example, teaching children how to eat right in order to live longer, how to develop self-confidence, how to pursue the right goals, etc.

When we talk about using technology to solve the backlog of problems that the current education system brings with it, we mean using e-learning in schools with teacher guidance, support and advice, as well as collaboration spaces to continually up-skill students and employees.

Join us for part two of Transforming the Education system, on our thoughts around how e-learning is destined to solve this problem and how you can put yourself in a position to benefit from this shift.

Until next time,