Author: Ameen Ahsan

“We Have To Teach Our Kids Something Unique…” Jack Ma, Former Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group

This quote is the trigger for today’s post.

As the world progresses by leaps into work getting done more cheaper, faster, and efficient- human jobs are at stake. It’s a reality. It’s time for humans, societies, cultures, and organizations to evolve to survive.

It begins with what we teach our kids. Our schooling system is so outdated, one wonders who prepares its syllabuses.

School management and parents have to move from the comfort zone of standardized learning to the new age of individualized learning.

So how do we teach our kids, what machines can’t do? We teach them to be “more human”. But what does that mean?

We teach them values, so that they never create or use machines, Ai and robotics to destroy peace, instead use them to create a sustainable peaceful world.

We teach them independent thinking so that they become creative in innovations, discoveries and become masters of the very technology that can otherwise be used to enslave them. Present schooling does not promote independent thinking- it’s only what’s in the textbooks.

We teach them cooperation and teamwork so that they love and believe in each other. Help and support each other. Remove the present mark-based mindset, where one has to beat down the other to get to the next level or is measured in comparison to others. Where a lion is compared to a dolphin, while their skills are different.

We teach them leadership and the ability to take responsibility. Characters that are fast disappearing in the pleasure-seeking, me-me, materialistic generation. Students should be not just taught but trained, to take up responsibility, be accountable, be able to motivate others, take the lead, walk the talk. Be men and women of their words.

We teach them to care for others. That care is what is going to help the world and inhabitants, be at peace with each other.

We teach them the knowledge that is needed for life rather than in-depth science, physics, maths, and geography that is not needed for the vast majority who might not seek those streams. Instead, teach them young, topics such as basic finance & investment management(everyone needs it in life to manage personal finances, personal investments), economics (everyone needs to know how the economy functions), basic law (everybody is bound by it), political science (that’s what governs them). These are more important topics as they affect everyone. Only those seeking careers in biology, physics, mathematics, geography, and other conventional topics need to go in-depth to them. For these special clubs in schools can be formed. So interested students can go much deeper than their peers, based on their capacity. For the rest who are not seeking such careers, they don’t need to be tortured to study them.

We teach them how to be healthy and avoid lifestyle diseases. It is funny that we don’t teach our kids what to eat and what not to. It shortens their life. That’s not in the syllabus. We should have in curriculum topics such as food habits, what to eat and what not to, sleeping habits, exercising, natural herbs, organic home farming, natural therapies, first aid procedures. This not only makes them capable of making and eating right, doing right exercises, curing themselves with natural herbs (avoiding side effect medication), and being capable of rescuing life’s in danger; but also have a profound effect on the businesses around them. Junk foods providers will disappear, harmful nightlife businesses will disappear, the illegal drugs/ prostitution industry will disappear, the healthcare industry will be more ethical and responsible. These changes will not be driven not by law, but by enlightened people.

We teach them the value of family and relationships. It’s a topic that should not get restricted to a chapter. It should be a subject that will be studied from kindergarten to post-graduation. Because relationships are the foundation of human civilization. We should teach kids how to understand their parents, grandparents, siblings, relatives, and neighbors & how to behave with them in various situations. Kids today, do not really know it. We should teach how husband and wife should understand each other and behave with each other (it’s not something that can be achieved with a few hours of pre-marriage counseling). This reduces divorces, broken homes, domestic violence, wrong relationships, etc.

We should teach how parents understand and behave with their children. This opens up strong bonding. This prevents kids from drugs, depressions, suicidal tendencies. All these need to be learned when they are in their schools and colleges.

We should teach them about all religions in-depth. This helps understand every religion better and have a deep-rooted understanding that ultimately all religions are about peaceful co-existence and it’s evil people who divide people on religions.

We should teach them empathy and sympathy. It goes a long way.

Visualize a world where this is what people learn and do. Feel the peace and happiness. This is what we need to teach. The present syllabus has failed to create a good world. We witnessed all the world wars, civil wars, unethical corporations, corruption, exploitation- all by people who spend most of their childhood learning stuff that never was useful in their real life and decisions they took.

In these schools, it will be less of books and theory. More of exploration, activity, and doing. And the traditional marking and grading system? It will be in the dustbin- where it rightly belongs.

This should be the vision and strategy for schools, educational institutions, education boards/organizations, and education ministries.