Achieving Education Excellence lies in effectively bridging the gap between Schooling and the Society

By Umair

Mark Twain once said, “I never let my schooling interfere with my education.”

Not just a witty statement it underpins an important distinction that modern schooling has blurred. Relying on any single pathway may lead to a narrow perspective; the approach won’t work in this ever-changing world. The schooling system is an institutional process made up of classrooms, curriculum, objective assessment and credentials, notwithstanding, education doesn’t necessarily depends on schooling in entirety. Education refers to curiosity, informed judgement, practical competence and connection to the society. Problem of our time is about treating and depending on 16 years of schooling for the whole of education.

For 16 long years students move through a deliberately developed system of classrooms, textbooks, exams and marks. From kindergarten to the university the rhythm remains unchanged: attend, memorize, perform and advance. We are convinced that success only comes through this pathway alone. Nevertheless, did we ever question how was the success when there was no schooling system as such. Parents invest hard-earned money, students bring commitment and compliance, and education institutions promise success but data presents unconvincing picture of graduates lacking practical competence the time they land into the job market.

Upon entering into the workforce, many graduates find themselves in a different world, feeling overwhelmed and confused as the world outside the school walls doesn’t seem to recognize them. In a nutshell, they have been living 16 years away from the society while 16 years inside a static, inefficient and rhythmic schooling system where they have developed a tunnel vision.

The structural disconnect between the formal education system and what lie outside is the real problem. Schools, colleges and universities operate as closed ecosystem which is structured around grades, and theory-rote-based learning and broad narrative and seldom reflect on the realities of today’s world and rarely focus on skills which graduates need in 21st century to realize their potential. The formal education system which is designed to train future makers is itself stuck in the past and appears unable to come out of this dilemma. Communication is reduced to chanting yes & no, writing scripted answers and reading slides during presentations. Absence of any structural feedback mechanism, simulation-based dialogue, counseling and hands-on activities make learning merely a copy-paste exercise.

Reading habit has been entirely missing or just reduced to memorizing ready-made notes and slides that teachers often pass on to the students while libraries have been abandoned.

The behaviorist pedagogical tradition borrowed from colonial era’s education system failed to create balance. It portrays teacher as an ultimate authority, discourages critical thinking and stops students to question and confidently express their opinions. Finishing syllabus is the optimal goal of a teacher while learning outcomes aren’t so much valued which is quite evident from school’s routine environment of subsequent periods, one-way speedy lectures and over-reliance on homework; the goal is to move fast and as planned with little flexibility.

The worldview of graduates are never fully developed. They aren’t accommodating to diverse ideas. Perception prevails over perspective. Syllabus is narrative-driven and underpins gender bias, religious bias, historical distortions and ideological framing nevertheless Pakistan has diversity in religion, culture and worldviews which demands pluralistic approach in formal education to inculcate mutual understanding, empathy and respect for diversity. Any isolated education system characterized by an outdated and narrative -driven curriculum, colonial pedagogical traditions, and administrative inefficiency, cannot keep pace with the rapidly changing world.

Current schooling system is based on the logic of high-stakes examination, rote-learning, objective grading and deferred rewards while crucial skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and effective communication are never prioritized, however, systematically discouraged to be precise. Student’s competency is judged by his/her ability to memorize and reproduce ready-made answers through a narrow lens of given syllabus, strictly following the teacher’s instructions. Soft skills such as emotional intelligence, adaptability, personal resilience and collaboration are  not treated as valuable. Students focus on getting good grades because they are judged so and marks are considered reward for the hard work. Thus, they don’t try to optimize their personalities.

This mismatch is visceral when graduates eventually get into the labor markets. Employers complain about candidates who can recite theories but are not able to comprehend, build relationships, solve real-world problems and navigate ambiguity in the workplace. On the other side, young graduates feel confused and betrayed by the educational institutions, and feel like they have landed into a different world. This is because they lack social and practical fluency despite possessing intelligence and potential or maybe degrees failed to close this gap effectively.

A system of education dislodged from the society limits student’s ability to become self-efficient and effective decision makers. They lack skills and exposure to turn gap into opportunity and create impact, achieving professional and personal growth. To do so, it requires ability to negotiate, persuade, and make partnerships, as well as understand market and society through direct contact, notwithstanding, abstract models don’t work in the real world until contextualized against certain conditions. Problem-situating, sales, marketing and management skills have become crucial; a process of solitary study and academic evaluation in a standard education system overlooks the importance of these skills. That’s another example of a disconnect between learning and living. In universities, researches carried out by students neither address contemporary challenges nor inform policymaking. These are mainly done in order to claim degrees while thousands of desertions are put into shelves every year, killing the very essence of research.

Many argue that the formal education is necessary. Certainly, they are right in important aspects. The issue is not the schooling itself but the real problem lies in how it has been imagined, organized, and treated as a near-or-total substitute for engagement with society. Academic credentials make students to knock the door but never equip them to open and walk through.

This disconnect isn’t inevitable to breach. By recognizing this gap and understanding underlying factors, thus, making policy adjustment at the higher level and implementing practical measures at the institutions meanwhile treating society as another classroom in the context of imparting job-ready skills to equip students through apprenticeships, workplace exposure in addition to organizing career skills workshops on effective communication, negotiation, public speaking, project management, AI, and business writing etc., and by making this an integral part of learning and assessment.

Integrating it with formal schooling does not mean It will compromise the academic rigor however it’s about abandoning the friction that produces isolation which leads to poor learning outcomes, reduced employability of fresh graduates and bring wider complications for society and country.

Until this pivot happens, the pattern will persist and graduates will continue to drain 16 good years of their life. The society will continue to be burdened by  receiving graduates who are largely disoriented, master of examination but unskilled in navigation, credentialed yet unprepared.

This gap is existential. As long as we continue to treat this as normal the more talent we waste and the more innovation we forfeit.

Our formal education system focuses on passive exchange during classrooms in contact with the wider world diverse people from diverse backgrounds incentives generations values beliefs and interests is insanely limited the context is reduced to only entertainment accordingly trips internship certificates

The result of such a system is graduate who leaked skills bad negotiators incapable to communicate clearly and not capable to recover from rejections