Rethinking Education

Rethinking education

Did you know that when I was 5 years old, I had to repeat the first year of primary school twice? Why? 🧐

Well, even at that young age I kind of knew what I wanted to do, which was draw. I loved art and couldn’t understand why at that age the teacher was asking me to add numbers. After all, wasn’t counting to 30 enough… well apparently not. 🤓

So, I failed because back then in Nigeria, you couldn’t proceed to another class without passing exams, so as an avid artist I failed.

However, I was thinking 🤔

💡Wouldn’t it have been better for me to have had extra 🖼 lessons ?

💡Wouldn’t it have been good to have given us an art exam at 5 too?

💡Wouldn’t it have been good if the teacher asked us what we liked and developed a curriculum based on how to help us thrive in our lives and hence society?

As I reflect on this, I was thinking, why do we celebrate our weaknesses and downplay our strengths in “modern” education.

Parents will more often than not push their kids to take extra maths but not extra art.

Still now, I always wonder why do kids, so human at an early age, show delight in learning but as soon as they start rigid schooling, they detest learning.

Well, fast forward to 2021 and the pandemic and meeting Sallyann Della Casa and I really started thinking about my childhood and where education should go.

So before I left as Director of Think at FII Institute I commissioned a paper on education and poverty and advocated that there should be a strong bias on skills based learning, where #education takes into consideration your environment and your skill set.

Furthermore with Sallyann we discussed developing an index platform that will help both individuals and governments acquire data on how to prepare for the #futureofjobs, taking into account your current skill deficit and how to close the gap.

One of these days with the right partner, we will launch it to help the next generation rethink what skills and jobs matter to them for their future.

Until then, I think we need to start rethinking how we learn, how we unlearn biases and resuscitate ancient traditions; ironically revisiting what worked in the past that has been so called sacrificed for the modern age.

Isn’t learning an integral part of being human?

Shouldn’t we be learning how to be human?

Shouldn’t education be bespoke , designed to our personality, aspirations and what we want to do to improve our world?

I leave you with GLEAC motto “ the future is human “

Oh, before I forget… upon starting school in the UK I was tested and guess what… I jumped a class - yes it took me 8 years to catch up, so never give up on learning your own way.