Joseph Ruzendo
One of the famous educational reformers, John Dewey, stressed in his book, ‘Experience and education’, that education should be about learning the knowledge, skills and resources necessary to address problems.
Many people nowadays believe that the best approach to solving problems is to make money, that the best way to generate money is to obtain a job, and that the best way to get a job is to have a good education. This indicates that to be employable, one must earn their matriculations, a diploma or a degree.
Unfortunately, the current state of affairs shows that there is no employment available – and as capitalism, automation, robots and artificial intelligence advance, we begin to realise that more jobs will be lost.
We will be transitioning to a more socially welfare-oriented state – not just in Namibia but also globally. Going back to the beginning of the educational system is what we should be doing to determine what our issues are.
It will also decide how we can locate the opportunities, skills and resources needed to be able to address these issues. The fundamental question at the heart of this issue is how can we obtain food so we can eat, a decent place to live and clothing so we can dress up and stay warm?
The truth is that we might have learned skills without the current educational system. The argument should be that the educational system benefits only the majority of pupils or those who score over an average of 50% or higher.
The unemployment rate is still rather high when some of them enter post-secondary institutions. There are currently more than 40% of graduates without jobs. It implies that individuals who obtained their metrics and qualifications are jobless.
Therefore, the government must establish more technical schools because they will focus more on providing education that is relevant to the workforce. Technical and vocational schools place more of an emphasis on education that is practical and job-focused in a particular trade or skill.
Students can make the most of the cutting-edge equipment in the classroom, which is typically close enough to their future workplace.
In addition, compared to formal education, technical institutions are more professionally managed. Every college student needs career development advice, and technical institutions put a lot of effort into giving it to their students.
Each higher education institution has a career counselling centre, but trade schools offer more in-depth support, such as development workshops or having more advisors available to students.
Our children need to be taught skills since many firms will be laying off workers. If they cannot establish enterprises or receive money because they have no jobs, they must also be able to provide for themselves and build their own homes. This is critically significant.
To have a healthier household, we must also concentrate on teaching children fundamental social skills, such as how to love. There must be days dedicated to business when kids can trade goods and services, and help one another.
We need to start rewiring our educational system so that students have the right tools and skills. We do not need the current educational system that forces kids to grovel for office jobs that, for the most part, do not exist anymore. Parents must participate in education, especially if they want the government to create additional technical institutions.
* Joseph Ruzendo is a teacher, and he is pursuing a Master’s in Adult Education at the University of Namibia. He can be reached at rjvanott97@gmail.com.