A well-educated and wise citizenry is perhaps the most valuable asset of a society. A populace that can think through and develop creative solutions can solve challenges of a society. Developed societies have attained their high productivity and affluence largely through good education. Good education is a ladder to personal development, both material and immaterial, and consequently the development of his/her society. Therefore, good education should be a priority for any society. But it's not clear what comprises good education.I think that for education to be good it has to emphasize logical thinking over factual knowledge. "Why" and "How" should be emphasized over "What", When", "Where" and "Who". Too many contemporary curriculums still emphasize factual knowledge as a means for students' intellectual growth. Progress is largely assessed in terms of one's ability to quickly recall facts in an academic setting. This model of education, over the years, has yielded a people that knows a lot of textbook facts (that were discovered or described by someone else) but does not know how to make their own observations, think for themselves, generate ideas and translate knowledge to address practical concerns.
For instance, almost all students at School Leaving Certificate level know how mosquitoes are born. Yet, they are unable to observe mosquitoes breeding in their own houses and neighborhood. My investigation of why our educated youth is oblivious to mosquito-generated epidemics despite their ability to narrate life cycle of mosquito word to word from textbook led me to the following observation.
Most SLC level textbooks have a chapter titled 'Life Cycle of Mosquito' which describes mosquitoes breeding in stagnant water. A female mosquito lays eggs on stagnant water, the eggs develop into larva, then pupa and eventually a mature mosquito flies away from water's surface. What the books don't clearly say is that the stagnant water could be a glass of water in a room at home, a forgotten pan of water on a rooftop, or a puddle in neighborhood grounds.
Even worse, most exam questions simply ask students "What is the life cycle of a mosquito?" and those able to recall textbook descriptions are handsomely rewarded. A better question could be "How do mosquitoes dwell in your house and how do they breed in and around your house?" Simultaneously, textbooks should also describe existence and life cycle of mosquitoes in the context students can relate to.
A more relevant chapter could be 'Origin of mosquitoes in Ram's house and how Sabita contracted malaria'. The greatest reward of this kind of knowledge would be to obliterate mosquitoes in one's house and neighborhood.
Digital technology to store and retrieve information is improving so fast that every human will soon have a device (a second brain, if you will) to store and recall factual knowledge on demand. Cheap mobile digital devices will soon allow us to gather, store, and recall all necessary factual knowledge we need. Today, one can ask a 'smart phone' to 'describe the life cycle of a mosquito' and obtain the information instantly. In this case, a computer may soon be preferable to an educated human.
We are certainly headed this way. Some societies might already be there. Therefore, it is all the more important to remodel education curriculums so that 'how to observe and think' is emphasized over gathering factual knowledge. Let every chapter be about 'how' and 'why' rather than other "wh" questions. Questions like 'What is human body temperature?' should be replaced with 'Why is the human body temperature 37oC?' This will force students to think and learn about why 37oC is ideal for normal physiology of tissues and organs in human body.
The question 'What does 3 x 3 equal' (which even a five year old can regurgitate) is much less important than 'Why 3 x 3 is 9'. Teaching 'What' only encourages a student to passively absorb what others have thought for them. Only 'How' and 'Why' make students think based on facts they observe and generate solutions that addresses realities around them.
The mission of new curriculum should be to enable students to think around every factual bit of knowledge so that they develop into wise (rather than educated) individuals. There is a clear difference between education and wisdom. An educated person is able to recall information but will not necessarily be able to wisely think about the worthiness of such information.
So far, curriculums in Nepal have largely focused on developing educated individuals. Our society needs educated individuals who are also wise. Therefore, new curriculums should focus on education that will allow students to develop into wise individuals who can ask 'Why' and 'How' and delegate information related to "What," "When" and "Who" to digital technology.
The author is a medical scientist and educator
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