Opportunity in chaos
It is possible to redirect and redesign the education systems to be responsive to today’s needs courtesy floods.
“Chaos often breeds life, while order breeds habit.” This observation by American journalist Henry Adams is profound for a number of reasons keeping in consideration the chaos in education resulting from the flood in Pakistan.
It is tempting to dream of the ideal school infrastructure, a well-oiled and sustainable machine crafted out of the failures of experienced ‘expert’ nations. The destruction of many schools is presenting Pakistan with a unique opportunity to leapfrog many years ahead by embracing new and fresh ways of educating, learning and developing. Let’s ask ourselves: what kind of remarkable learning was taking place in these schools to begin with? There was endless criticism of inadequate infrastructure, ghost teachers, little or no supply of learning material, abysmal levels of enrollment, attendance and achievement. And now we want billions to rebuild schools to continue the same way? I am yet to participate in a meeting which looks at this disaster as a serious opportunity to introduce cheap technology and infrastructure to offer significantly better quality of learning.
Flood-hit schools can be used to our advantage if properly managed. Pakistani communities are not encumbered by extensive networks built on obsolete technology, which will require an evolutionary process of replacement. The technological inertia is quite low. In technology leapfrogging, the extent of the leap is in inverse proportion to the technological inertia carried along. The push should therefore be for the cutting edge. The latest technology should be used in building new infrastructure. Schools and communities will leapfrog several stages and decades in the educational development process. In doing so, they will learn ways and means of providing the greatest social benefits to a large fraction of the population while avoiding unpleasant side effects, from the experience of more advanced countries
In Pakistan, the relative price of conventional education is always rising. The reason is simple: the basic technology of education has remained essentially unchanged. A teacher goes to the front of the classroom, talks, puts material on the blackboard, distributes written materials and conducts written and oral tests. In recent years, some video or computer instruction may be added, but it is usually just that. We must realise that knowledge is the most important social and economic resource, vital for the enterprise of the individual and nation. However, we are facing a massive economic challenge. How can we afford simultaneously to increase the quality of education, increase its coverage, and make it life-long? And how can we afford not to?
The answer may not be simple but it is crystal clear. The information revolution has been decreasing the cost of processing, storing, and transmitting information by 50 per cent every 18 months, with no end in sight. This technological wave is making major changes in the way education is produced and delivered. At the heart of this change is the convergence of images, sounds, books, and computer networks into digital multimedia. This is making the world's knowledge base available anywhere on the planet, any time, and, before long, in any language through satellites, coaxial cable, fibre optic cable, and even conventional copper wire. Wireless technologies are making it possible to leapfrog bad or non-existent telephone systems to reach workplaces and homes.
While technology already makes it possible for students in a Pakistani village to access the world's knowledge base, it is possible to redirect and redesign the education and training systems to be responsive to today’s needs courtesy floods. This will not be easy but is possible.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2010.
It is tempting to dream of the ideal school infrastructure, a well-oiled and sustainable machine crafted out of the failures of experienced ‘expert’ nations. The destruction of many schools is presenting Pakistan with a unique opportunity to leapfrog many years ahead by embracing new and fresh ways of educating, learning and developing. Let’s ask ourselves: what kind of remarkable learning was taking place in these schools to begin with? There was endless criticism of inadequate infrastructure, ghost teachers, little or no supply of learning material, abysmal levels of enrollment, attendance and achievement. And now we want billions to rebuild schools to continue the same way? I am yet to participate in a meeting which looks at this disaster as a serious opportunity to introduce cheap technology and infrastructure to offer significantly better quality of learning.
Flood-hit schools can be used to our advantage if properly managed. Pakistani communities are not encumbered by extensive networks built on obsolete technology, which will require an evolutionary process of replacement. The technological inertia is quite low. In technology leapfrogging, the extent of the leap is in inverse proportion to the technological inertia carried along. The push should therefore be for the cutting edge. The latest technology should be used in building new infrastructure. Schools and communities will leapfrog several stages and decades in the educational development process. In doing so, they will learn ways and means of providing the greatest social benefits to a large fraction of the population while avoiding unpleasant side effects, from the experience of more advanced countries
In Pakistan, the relative price of conventional education is always rising. The reason is simple: the basic technology of education has remained essentially unchanged. A teacher goes to the front of the classroom, talks, puts material on the blackboard, distributes written materials and conducts written and oral tests. In recent years, some video or computer instruction may be added, but it is usually just that. We must realise that knowledge is the most important social and economic resource, vital for the enterprise of the individual and nation. However, we are facing a massive economic challenge. How can we afford simultaneously to increase the quality of education, increase its coverage, and make it life-long? And how can we afford not to?
The answer may not be simple but it is crystal clear. The information revolution has been decreasing the cost of processing, storing, and transmitting information by 50 per cent every 18 months, with no end in sight. This technological wave is making major changes in the way education is produced and delivered. At the heart of this change is the convergence of images, sounds, books, and computer networks into digital multimedia. This is making the world's knowledge base available anywhere on the planet, any time, and, before long, in any language through satellites, coaxial cable, fibre optic cable, and even conventional copper wire. Wireless technologies are making it possible to leapfrog bad or non-existent telephone systems to reach workplaces and homes.
While technology already makes it possible for students in a Pakistani village to access the world's knowledge base, it is possible to redirect and redesign the education and training systems to be responsive to today’s needs courtesy floods. This will not be easy but is possible.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2010.