THE first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn and then re-learn to cope with the fast changing paradigm shifts in almost all aspects of life from economy to technology and governance to education.
Last month, I was invited as a guest speaker on annual prize distribution ceremony at a local private school in the vicinity of my hometown, Sawal Dher, Mardan – I found the occasion suitable to address parents, school teachers and students on “what is being missed out in our education system”.
By making the address easy-to-understand for the real stakeholders (parents/teachers) of the education system – I presented a twenty-bullet-point talk beginning with ‘preservation of folk wisdom, local cultures and languages’.
The onslaught of social media and globalization has put almost all regional languages (the reservoirs of knowledge, local cultures, social norms and folk wisdom) across the country under intense pressure of extinction while the modern-day education system has further downgraded them.
Likewise, the children need the attributes of compassion, kindness, empathy and tolerance more than before – to help the poor segments, senior citizens, persons with different abilities and the oppressed ones and tolerate the opposite opinions without getting provoked as getting emotional on ideas standing in contrast to your existing opinion is tantamount to losing the major human attribute of rationality.
It is mark of an educated person to entertain an idea without accepting it.
Children should be taught conflict resolution and problem solving capabilities for making them able to come up with out-of-the-box solutions disputes or other day-to-day problems – if option ‘A’ doesn’t work then the alphabets are twenty-six.
It is important to inculcate problem-solving capabilities in minds of the school-going children from early stages of life through projects by making them able to cope with harsh realities of life.
Similarly, children need humility and love – the binding force of life.
The humble nature makes the kids able not to look down upon the working class or people of different professions such as farmers, shoemakers, cobblers, hairdressers, or other handicraftsmen or women and labourers, belonging to the same human race.
They are the economic engine of the society – contributing to social and economic wellbeing of the society.
They should be taught that self-made people or great people are always humble and down to earth.
It is need of the hour to create and shape individuals in harmony with their surroundings – nature and nurture.
Teach them in the context in which they live – taking part in plantation drive, teaching them about popular businesses and food production process in the area for teaching them self-reliance and economic independence.
Children from the early age also need to know about financial literacy – asset, liability, costs, family budgets, earnings, expenditures and the art of selling for sustainable economic growth.
Similarly, optimism makes them able to have a positive outlook towards life to cope with losses and damages in times of adversities – always looking at the bright sides and half-filled glass.
Teach them communication and presentation skills to make them able to be competent enough to voice their concerns and raise their issues more confidently in different spheres of life.
One prominent attribute that children share with philosophers is that of curiosity – the inquisitive nature of asking too many questions to quench their thirst and rationalize the realities and happenings in their surroundings.
The job of a parent and teacher is to answer their questions to the best of their abilities without harming or discouraging their inquisitive nature.
If one thing that is prior to education is that of human wisdom which comes from harsh experiences of life – teach them from real life experiences and give them opportunities to participate in social rituals, gatherings and develop bonds with elderly people so that they may learn from their life-long stories through their narratives.
The skills of management: time and resources through the art of self-discipline would make them able to live happily even with limited resources and do their best within the given resources.
Give them some responsibility as maturity comes with responsibility.
Teach them collaboration and team work – competition is the law of the jungle and cooperation is the law of civilization.
No is born incompetent – all of us are born with certain abilities, often hard to recognize in a classroom but the race in real life is altogether a different concept.
Teach them good habits from the early life: physical fitness, exercise, health, hygiene and self-service to live neat life in a clean environment.
It is also important to teach them first aid: how to cope with emergencies – electric shocks, earthquakes, or any other untoward happenings without creating chaos.
It is collective responsibility of the educational institutions, teachers, parents and society at large to inculcate adoptability and resilience (survival of the fittest) – getting changed with the changing circumstances through learning, unlearning and re-learning to cope with the paradigm shifts.
Last but not the least; give children the courage to speak the truth come what may as society can only progress when upholding truth as a guiding principal of life.
—The author is Islamabad-based Journalist.
