A 3-part series on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on India’s education system and an invitation to a new global movement in education — #WhatIf #KindnessIsTheNewNormal

Part 2: What is the current crisis teaching us about our education system?

As the impact of the pandemic unfolds, it is becoming abundantly clear that traditional learning models and schools have ill-equipped us and our children to understand, make meaning, and respond and adapt to the uncertainty and vulnerabilities emerging from the current crisis.

The last few years have seen the discourse around education reform moving towards making children work-ready for jobs of the future. An approach that has become outdated due to 3 main reasons: –

1. The future is already here!

The oft-repeated assumption that children would have to face an uncertain job market and a fast-changing world a few years from now is already amidst us, and this uncertain future is changing as we speak. This is a time to self-reflect and critically examine — have we done enough to prepare our children for this unprecedented situation?

2. Economic Growth Vs Prioritizing Well-being.

For the first time in modern history, as a species, humankind has been forced to slow-down. Suddenly, the idea of economic growth being the only indicator of a nation’s success has turned on its head. Today we are rightly being forced to prioritize well-being over economic growth, for ourselves and the planet. Countries such as Finland, New Zealand, Iceland, Slovakia that have focused on the health and well-being of their citizens have responded well to this crisis, while many others have struggled and bungled. Could this be the turning point that decides the new purpose of education, leading to a new way of being in the face of this new reality?

3. Can education be the panacea to solve entrenched systemic inequities?

The current crisis has further thrown up the systemic inequities in our society with the poor and marginalized being affected many times over than the average population. When a eighth grade student we heard from, who shares one smartphone between a family of 4 makes a tough choice to buy a internet-pack versus groceries and is then not allowed into her online class for being 5 minutes late, are we not perpetuating the same systemic biases we held offline to the online world? What could be the role of education in changing this reality?

Before we rush towards reactionary solutions to the above questions, there is a need to pause and reflect on these structural and systemic challenges within our current education system that the pandemic has made us painfully aware about. We can then begin to re-imagine the purpose of education in this new reality. While it would be easy to replicate old offline models and repurpose them towards the online mode, we must pause to ask the tough question — is this what is needed right now?

This pandemic has brought with it a stark, yet an all-pervasive understanding, about just how interconnected we all are and how interdependent we are on each-other’s well-being!

What if education can be re-imagined so that this is understood as the ‘new normal’?

What if we re-assess the current examination driven education system which evaluates individual success and bring in a more holistic, collaborative education system which is driven by celebrating our interconnectedness? There could be no better time than now to move away from quick-fix innovations to radical reform.

What if we repurpose education from its traditional linear, industrial approach, focussed on resource extraction / workforce development and metamorphose it to help children learn to thrive in an unpredictable world?

What if education becomes the lens to help children see the inter-connectedness of all humans and nature to help build us a more thriving world and planet?

If we don’t attempt this now, the fear and anxiety created by this pandemic will only be amplified by a education system that celebrates our separateness.

This will require a complete overhaul in our approach, but the time is now.

Authored by;

Suchetha Bhat is CEO of Dream a Dream, an organization working towards empowering young people from vulnerable backgrounds to overcome adversity and flourish in a fast-changing world using a creative life skills approach.

Vishal Talreja is cofounder of Dream a Dream, an Ashoka Fellow and Eisenhower Fellow. He is also part of the Founding Team at The Weaving Lab, Catalyst 2030 and Karanga. Vishal also sits on the Board of Goonj and Partners for Youth Empowerment.

The Global Movement is being nurtured by The Weaving Lab and is now hosted at https://whatif-global.com/