The body of human knowledge is fast expanding. We are “on the edge of possibility.”
We have more books and resources than we had say 50 or 100 years ago. Or even a year ago. So to be up to date in this decade, I have to read and know more than a person who lived say two decades ago. On the other hand, it is also true that I have better access to information due to technology. However, the fast growing body of knowledge still remains a challenge. So your child will surely have to know more than you to be in the market! Is this possible?
Solution 1: Increase the number of years of formal, institutionalised learning (school based education) If someone took 15 years of studying to be a graduate (to finish undergraduate studies), may be we should increase it to 17 or 18, since there is more to be learnt.
In a sense, this is already taking place. The jobs that were filled by graduates 30 years ago are now being filled by people with post graduate degrees. Even someone with MA does not feel that he has studied enough! There is wanting to study more and more.
Solution 2: Make the curriculum more packed! Increase the amount to be learnt within the same time. This is what is being done in most African countries. Every time curriculum is revised, it is only becoming more bulky. Much is added and very little is dropped.
In this situation, the students are overburdened and there is a lot of stress! This slows down the actual learning process, and increases school drop out rate. This is a major contributing factor for suicides in many countries among young people, and for the so called urnrest in schools in Kenya. Besides, in the pressure of covering the curriculum, education becomes just acquiring information, and not a holistic formation.
Solution 3: Encourage specialization. After may be 9 to 10 years of basic education, let students specialize. Instead of studying many subjects begin to study only a few. The danger with this is that the lack of co-ordination between sciences can be detrimental to the progress of human knowledge
Solution 4: Train for Life long learning. This is the best solution according to me. School should focus on learning to know (together with other pillars mentioned above). The school training should give enough skills to the students to keep acquiring knowledge. Tests should be to test if the student has really acquired enough skills to keep abreast of the growth in the body of human knowledge. To test the skills though some information acquiring is necessary. This is the challenge of education for today.