Salaam and good evening everyone, a very intriguing topic that many faced today. I do believe that we face this question while studying for our high school exam, or even tertiary years. When we reach adulthood, we kind of know what the answer is, and it's not a straightforward answer.
Job requirement
While most jobs with a career path would require some form of academic qualifications, there are those who excels in their career without any tertiary qualifications. One good friend of mine is a living testament to this. He started working after high school with SPM, and now after 20 over years in the banking sector, he is the departmental head overseeing a group of staff in one of Malaysia's leading bank(hint: yellow themed, animal logo). Well, they say experience is the key, but certification can certainly be the icing on the cake.
False Positive
While most of us would rush into tertiary education without second thought, there are some that would take a different route and enter the school of Hard-knocks (please google to find out the meaning kids!). There is nothing wrong with going into Higher learning Institution right after high school, it's just that many of us expect to get great careers with high paying salary right after graduation. Just ask any HR department of any company, what are the expected salary of these fresh grads during interviews, You'll be surprised (really, you would ;) ). There is this perception among our youth that if you graduated from a higher learning institute, you are entitled to a absurdly high salary, with all the perks thrown in!
Bad Start
I don't blame our younger generations if they expect a high salary when they score well in an examination. We are brought up in culture where you are evaluated according to number of A's you get. To add salt to the wound, we often compare their results with their friends, cousins, our friends' child, our cousins' child or in an extreme cases, to total strangers that they might not even know.
These events happens several times in their schooling years, which is finally ingrained in their mind, hardwired to the brain.
Is it the fact that humans loves to compete so much, that they will feel triumphant if their child can beat every single kid in the neighbourhood in UPSR, PMR or SPM? well, we really have to do something about this in order to save our kids future from being led into the misconception unintentionally created by us. How many of us often says that "oh, I'm okay with with whatever my child gets in exams", but in the end we put out harsh words to our child when they get results not to our expectations. This is just plain cruel to the child.
True purpose of Education
Maybe it's time we pause for a while, and take a good look at why we enroll in schools, colleges or universities. A long time ago when the concept of university is just at its infancy, anybody can join a class to learn about anything as opposed to today, it is open to only a privileged group according to their examination results, or even worse sometimes only those who can afford to pay top dollars can get in.
University Re-Imagined
I think that it is high time that we allow anybody interested in a particular subject to register for the class without having to take up the entire degree or diploma course. We often believe that we need to attend the entire course of a diploma or degree course for the knowledge to worth something.
Today, it is no longer about grades and results, what matters most is how you can apply the knowledge you gained from the class or what knowledge can benefit your career, business or what ever that you are doing. a modern farmer may want to learn how to equip his farm with precision farming technology to further increase his yield. instead of forcing him to take up an entire degree course that would cost him 3 to 4 years of his time, why not allow him to take several subjects related to his endeavor. He does not need or want a degree for god sake!
Before this can happen, those sitting high up in the management level of the University's Chancellery must be bold enough to make this shift. Believe me, this is the future (actually this is how university used to operate in the past :) ). Remember Uber & Grab? or Fintech? or bitcoin? well, don't say I didn't warn you.
The Final words
What ever you decide today is totally up to you, and remains as personal choice, but bear in mind nobody has the right to tell you it's the wrong decision. If you fail today, you are are not a failure, you are just on your way to a greater success because each failure is meaningful and acts as a mentor of what not to repeat in the future. But the best method is of course to learn from others' mistakes rather than your own!
While most jobs with a career path would require some form of academic qualifications, there are those who excels in their career without any tertiary qualifications. One good friend of mine is a living testament to this. He started working after high school with SPM, and now after 20 over years in the banking sector, he is the departmental head overseeing a group of staff in one of Malaysia's leading bank(hint: yellow themed, animal logo). Well, they say experience is the key, but certification can certainly be the icing on the cake.
False Positive
Bad Start
I don't blame our younger generations if they expect a high salary when they score well in an examination. We are brought up in culture where you are evaluated according to number of A's you get. To add salt to the wound, we often compare their results with their friends, cousins, our friends' child, our cousins' child or in an extreme cases, to total strangers that they might not even know.
These events happens several times in their schooling years, which is finally ingrained in their mind, hardwired to the brain.
Is it the fact that humans loves to compete so much, that they will feel triumphant if their child can beat every single kid in the neighbourhood in UPSR, PMR or SPM? well, we really have to do something about this in order to save our kids future from being led into the misconception unintentionally created by us. How many of us often says that "oh, I'm okay with with whatever my child gets in exams", but in the end we put out harsh words to our child when they get results not to our expectations. This is just plain cruel to the child.
True purpose of Education
Maybe it's time we pause for a while, and take a good look at why we enroll in schools, colleges or universities. A long time ago when the concept of university is just at its infancy, anybody can join a class to learn about anything as opposed to today, it is open to only a privileged group according to their examination results, or even worse sometimes only those who can afford to pay top dollars can get in.
University Re-Imagined
I think that it is high time that we allow anybody interested in a particular subject to register for the class without having to take up the entire degree or diploma course. We often believe that we need to attend the entire course of a diploma or degree course for the knowledge to worth something.
Before this can happen, those sitting high up in the management level of the University's Chancellery must be bold enough to make this shift. Believe me, this is the future (actually this is how university used to operate in the past :) ). Remember Uber & Grab? or Fintech? or bitcoin? well, don't say I didn't warn you.
The Final words
What ever you decide today is totally up to you, and remains as personal choice, but bear in mind nobody has the right to tell you it's the wrong decision. If you fail today, you are are not a failure, you are just on your way to a greater success because each failure is meaningful and acts as a mentor of what not to repeat in the future. But the best method is of course to learn from others' mistakes rather than your own!
Appreciate your comments so that I can improve the quality of this write up, Thanks!
ReplyDeleteExcellent piece. I enjoyed readying and loved your ideas. In fact, I do agree with you that traditional education is no more valid or applicable to current generation. Knowledge is easily available and accessible in a way that you don't have to attend a school or college to acquire certain experiences. Ad-hoc learning is what I anticipate for future education systems. Randomly selected subjects from various fields can be attended based on need or passion of the scholars.
ReplyDeleteThanks man, really appreciate the comments. Let see whether or not the academia is will to change or not.
ReplyDelete