Out of touch with the modern needs and without a hands-on approach
Parents take it as a compliment when somebody mentions their children taking after them, but not when almost three generations have studied the same curriculum with little change other than a poor redesign of the front covers.
My tirade against our curriculum is mainly twofold: the much repeated, often to the extent of boredom, grievance that the curriculum is outdated, and the apparent apathy in tailoring the content to address the localized issues of our society.
The first point goes against the principle of ‘Don’t repeat yourself’ (DRY) such that we have two or three generations growing up on the same knowledge. Just recently, I came across a situation when my youngest brother, almost ten years my junior, the fourth child of my parents, had to choose between the local Matriculation system and the internationally recognised, GCE Ordinary (O) levels. Even though I expected this to come to pass, I was still taken aback when I saw that almost all the Matriculation books or at least the science books were essentially the same as in my day. No wonder teachers fail to present subject fundamentals in a stimulating manner. How uninspiring must it be for them to regurgitate the same thing year after year? This is despite the very reasonable expectation that every iteration of teaching the same curriculum year after year should make for a marked improvement in teaching standards each time. Now don’t get me wrong, subject fundamentals don’t change over time. Two plus two always makes four, as long as anyone claiming to have developed a water fuelled car is not at the helm of affairs.
Considering that most of our students mostly opt for professional studies at university level with engineering and medical taking the top slots for the most number of applicants received, the curriculum at the secondary and higher secondary level should be designed around problem statements. At present we are sidestepping this with the much easier approach of rote learning for success. Naturally it’s the easier option for both the administration and teachers but it damages the future prospects of budding thinkers by discouraging independent study.
There is a rising trend of technology start-ups all over the world, particularly Asia which is being touted as the next biggest market for internet penetration. Pakistan needs to latch onto this opportunity with its large pool of talented engineers and IT professionals leading the way. There are several indicators that we are headed in the right direction with an increasing number of local start-ups; however, this has more to do with the individual efforts of these budding entrepreneurs rather than any directed efforts starting from a curriculum striving for a conducive environment in which start-ups can not only survive but flourish. This will happen when students know what makes for success in information technology. One study pointed out that mentors with a proven track record are the difference between failed and successful start-ups. We need homegrown mentors.
Our public services are infested with red tape and inefficient processes. Nowhere in our curriculum are we teaching the importance of stream lining processes. The mental agony an individual can go through when faced by the ‘system’ would make for case-studies in psychology classes. At the very least, in such cases effective public services driven by compassionate service providers can significantly mitigate the daily grind for citizens. The public should be driven by the hope that people in the upper echelons of society are considerate towards their misery, and that they are not condemned to such a state for a lifetime.
One argument regularly thrown out as an alibi for poor public services is that this sector is not very financially rewarding. This may be true, but please know that even in the private sector many companies still maintain strict quality control over their services and products by sustaining a culture of excellence, despite not offering dazzling pay packages. They not only manage to engage new clients but sustain profits by retaining old ones. Anyone in the business of professional services will know how tricky retaining old clients is, largely because they come to expect a certain benchmark from service providers, and a dip in standards means losing the client to other market competitors. The students should be given an understanding of what makes for successful professional services in school. Otherwise, circumventing the process will remain an attractive option and anyone still adopting the right approach will need to go against the prevailing wisdom.
Understandably, the curriculum in school and colleges cannot be expected to encompass everything; however, students should at least be given a flavour of what to expect when they take on the avatar of practical life. They should be exposed to the on-going issues of society so that over time some of them can come up with real solutions. The next generation should be brought up on ideals better than ours. Their curriculum should cater to the left and right hooks of the modern world. We need to ensure that their curriculum goes through an iterative process of incremental changes for improvement.
