Education Is…The Foundation of Success

[uyanna]

For a long time, the norm was for most parents to insist that their children go to school. They will work hard to keep them in school. The idea is that with good education, the child will get a good job and a secure future.

Unfortunately, they did not observe that most of the things taught in schools are outdated and have little or no relevance to the future. The rules of the game of life are changing. Getting a good formal education does not guarantee financial freedom or a secure future anymore. We now live in a rapidly changing world with constantly changing rules and ideas about almost everything.

For a modern day educational system to be relevant, it must include financial intelligence and entrepreneurship with a good dose of investment mentality or awareness. The student while in school must be equipped to be both an employee and an employer of labor on graduation.

Mergers and Acquisitions, Layoffs, Automation, Downsizing, Rightsizing, Global Economic Meltdown and the likes are terms we are all very familiar with. These have inflicted a lot of pains on individuals and families. The educational system should prepare people to think about their future including life after retirement and old age. The pension scheme has failed yet we live in a world where spending is emphasized to the detriment of saving. Sadly, financial institutions that are supposed to help you develop the saving culture will encourage you to get into the credit trap while their chief executives engage in manipulating the books to support their extravagant and sometimes ridiculous life styles.

Today, we have a lot of rich and successful people who did not have formal education in the real sense of the word. They abound in the entertainment and business world, in science and technology and other fields of human endeavors. One thing is certain. They discovered what they were good at or what they had passion for and invested quality time polishing their skills. They learnt investment and wealth creation principles along the line. Some of them like Bill Gates have amassed stupendous wealth.

It is said that if you are not in the know, you cannot be in the flow and if you are not informed, you are deformed. If you are a parent, invest some time to discover what your children are good at. You may not herd them all off to the formal sector since some of them may have their calling in the informal setting.

SPICES

You can get all A’s and still flunk life….Walker Percy

Knowledge is the true organ of sight, not the eyes…Panchatantra

Education is the movement from darkness to light.….Allan Bloom

A child educated only at school is an uneducated child….George Santayana

Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity………Aristotle

If the Romans had been obliged to learn Latin, they would never have found time to conquer the world……Heinrich Heine

An educational system isn’t worth a great deal if it teaches young people how to make a living but doesn’t teach them how to make a life….Author Unknown

[magi13]

Why do you think it is so?

Education is actually good for society. What are your alternative to education? Self study? Tutor? Home study? How will you make your child successful in life?

[Titus]

I agree with what you said, I believe the same about the system in general. But I also believe the opposite (not the direct opposite); I believe some schools, or educational institutions, do it right.

There are institutions that create free, creative and wise individuals. It may be true that they are the few exceptions enforcing the rule, but we shouldn't apply the same negative label to all of them, especially since we have first-hand experiences with only a tiny fraction.

I also believe that sometimes we want to believe such negative things because of our frustrations with the the education system. Having absurd expectations from it, feeling it didn't help us as much as that other guy who's a millionaire now, rebelling against power, etc. The fox and the grapes fable could be applied.

It's a huge subject.

Æsop. (Sixth century B.C.) Fables.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.

The Fox and the Grapes


ONE hot summer’s day a Fox was strolling through an orchard till he came to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine which had been trained over a lofty branch. “Just the things to quench my thirst,” quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no greater success. Again and again he tried after the tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying: “I am sure they are sour.”
“IT IS EASY TO DESPISE WHAT YOU CANNOT GET.”

[jtracy]

Some schools are better than others. I am intrigued by a school in Massachusetts called Sudbury School which is radically different from normal schools but has been so successful that other schools in other states have adopted their idea. Basically this is a school in which there are no classes and no exams. The students can literally do whatever they want all day. It is essentially the students who decide who their "teachers" will be. They learn democracy by taking part in most of the school's decisions. They don't even learn to read until they want to; and apparently even if they start when they're 10 or so, they catch up to their peers within about a year. And most of the students go on to university with no problems, and then have successful careers.

[carenkh]

There's a whole thread with more thoughts here:

Compulsory Public Schooling is Dumbing Down our Kids

[Zenduba]

I agree. I'm not saying that we should throw the baby out with the bathwater because there are still skills that are needed by modern society - doctors, engineers, architects, etc but the education system should focus MORE on skills that we will definitely use or need as opposed to those that we might need or use. Things such as critical thinking, goal setting, how to develop confidence, motivation, how to deal with setbacks. They shouldn't be integrated into the current curriculum but should be taught as stand alone subjects. As a matter of fact they shouldn't even be taught, becasue it'll just become a fruitless exercise where kids are just being asked to memorize something then regurgitate it, "What are the elements of setting goals?" It should be as hands on as possible, where they actually set goals, hold each other accountable and theirselves responsible, discuss their challenges and report their progress. That way no matter which profession you go into you'll be equipped with the necessary skills, or you can branch out on your own knowing that you have what it takes. The current system is just outdated.