A guy goes to a university and says, “I want to learn how to make an egg.”
So they said to him, “we’ve got the perfect degree for you!”
And they proceeded to tell him about the amazing Degree in Egg-Making offered by the university. Apparently, the degree was really good, and was the most comprehensive course about eggs.
To complete the degree, he would have to do the following modules:
• First and foremost, he would have to know: “where do eggs come from?” To answer that question, he would need to study Biology 101.
• Then, there are so many different types of chickens, and to understand the different types of chickens he would need to do Ornithology 101.
• The egg business is a massive, multi billion dollar global industry. To understand the egg business, he would need to do Economics 101.
• To understand how the egg goes farm to table, ? He would need to do Logistics 101.
• Then, there is the question that has plagued people forever, is, “which came first, the chicken or the egg?” Since it is a philosophical question, he would have to study Philosophy 101.
• Next, to understand why the egg is shaped that way, and why it is so strong, he would need to do Engineering 101.
• Then, to understand which were the different cultures that used eggs and how do they use them, he would need to study Anthropology 101.
• To learn who were the first people to eat eggs, he will study History 101.
• To learn what it means when somebody says “egg on your face” he would need to study Literature 101.
The guy enrolled for the cause.
Three years later he went to his professor and he said, “Sir, I still don’t know how to make an egg.”
So the professor retorted, “Well you don’t expect me to teach you, do you? I’ve never made an egg in my life!”
The above story is obviously fictitious, but it is a very good illustration of what goes on at universities around the world. It highlights the dilemma that most university students face: that their main needs are not being fulfilled.
They may be learning some very interesting concepts, but are those concepts in line with their objectives? Most likely not. And it is the same with school.
I’m not saying learning Shakespeare or Calculus, or the European Renaissance are bad to learn; what I’m saying is, we need to get our priorities in order. The truth be told, none of those subjects prepare you for the real world in any way.
We need valuable, real-world, marketable skills. A person spends 12 years of their lives at school, only to come out unemployable because they don’t have any marketable skills.
Can they get a job with the knowledge learned over 12 years? No. Do they have any useful skills like how to do their taxes, service a car, change tyres or cook a meal? No.
Any interpersonal skills like communications and conflict resolution? Nope.
Twelve years. TWELVE WHOLE YEARS. What purpose does school serve?
Ken Robinson put it very accurately, when he said, “The whole system of public education around the world is a protracted process of university entrance.” What he meant was, that school does not serve any purpose other than to enter university.
But is university the answer then? Clearly not. The vast majority of students coming out of universities don’t even have marketable skills. That is why we have so many unemployed university graduates.
So, the net effect is that we spend 12 + 4 = 16 years of our lives basically learning stuff that will not likely benefit us. Sad.
And yet, at my school, IT varsity, we are able to take a student from zero to software developers in one year. Just one year. But people go 16 years through the education system and still come out unemployable.
Something is horribly wrong. And what is wrong is that education has let us down.