Great men and women such as Einstein, Wilson Churchill, Bill Gate, Philip Emaguale, professor Onyibo, Barak Obama, Margaret Thatcher, Angela Markel to mention just a few, are all products or students of the 20th century educational system. No such great name can as yet be attributed to the 21st Century. Anyway it’s too early to judge because the Century is just a decade old. Hence, it is wise for us, at this moment to start thinking of the Model of students the Century should produce.
It is worthy of note that every generation model its students in such a way that suits its demands. It’s revealed in the Greek-Roman antiquity that Plato did set the pattern of education for Western civilization. Under the Plato-Socrates kind of education, the students were entrusted into the hands of a learnedmaster (of sound character) with expertise in a particular trade or craft that the parents are interested in. Phoenix was one of such good master. He attended to Achilles. Should you understand the character of the person of Achilles, you would appreciate at ones, the importance of a good teacher to a student. For to receive a proper education, is the root and source of all goodness- Pluttack. It’s that important.
Then, the industrial age came with itsown educational system which produced the kind of student that suite its unique demand. The industrial age brought with it mass education of people in preparation for work in the factory line either as factory line worker, manager, accountants or foremen. This was a period when work was indeed, being moved from the home front to the factories. The subsistent nature of production in the preceding age and its home based nature were being transformed to mass production centered in the cities. Thus, the need to rear students, who are prepared for work and life pattern of the modern age. A specialized function at intellectual and social level which was provided by the Universities is somehow, genetically connected to the industrial age.
‘You cannot solve 21tst century problem with 20th Century bureaucracy’ said Barak Obama, the US president. It’s amazing and regrettable that 21st Century students, especially in the third world are still dwelling in the curriculum of the past. We are lagging behind in a great measure. Rather than innovation, the third world Universities are still dolling out to their students, some anachronistic intellectualism of the past. The Japanese are perfect example of a people moving ahead with time. When they learnt the innovative and noble exploits of professor Oyinbo in Mathematics and Physics they made haste to send their students down to US to study under the tutelage of the Nigerian born professor. “The Key word is relevance” said William Van Till in one of his prologues. Great percentage of the content of our curriculum is clogged up with gibberish. The students in the developed countries are moving ahead with time.
On the Contrary 21st Century students in the third world are still been made to burn energy studying that which does not add value to his/her life. Little wonder, they are usually left wandering the street after graduation. One would have thought that issues such as entrepreneurial and leadership skills should have been incorporated into our curriculum. Why do the curriculum and the requirement for higher institution entrance neglect the uniqueness of individual students? Why should a youth be denied admission on the ground that he/she has not made a credit in Mathematics when this student has the potential to become a great diplomat or lawyer?
The students in the third world are confronted with several problems. We are not only lacking in terms of quality, but, also in quantity. The youths are craving for education, but the carrying capability of the available facilities have been exceeded. Those that make it into higher institutions are soon confronted with the problem of infrastructural decay. Thus, the desired refinement is not usually there after graduation. Certainly, the gulf that exists both in quantity and quality of education between the developed and the developing countries can be traced to disparity in government funding. In the case of the former, education is a major priority in policy formulation and the people’s opinion usually counts. While in the later, education receives minimal attention in budgetary policy. Policy change is usually affected with total disregard to the opinions, needs and aspiration of the people.
What then is the right model for the 21st Century students of the third world? The content of our curriculum should be specific and targeted at solving the socio-economic problems at hand. “Education being a social process, and the school being a community life, in which the child is brought to share in the inherited resource of the race and to use his own powers for social end,” said John Dewey, in his book, the Pedagogic Creed.
This Dewey educational concept is partly true, what is completely true is that apart from bring the child to share in the status quo. The child’s should also be encouraged to try his hands on innovative ideas. The 21st Century third world Countries should structure their educational model, not after their Colonial masters, but after the specific requirements of the country in question. This is because, countries have unique problems. I am convinced this approach will work because it has and is still working in places like China, Japan, India and South Korea.
Worth mentioning is the concept of specialization. People tend to be focused and more productive when their study is narrowed down to a certain area of specialization. Theproblem of the 21stCentury students is that of misguided labor and superfluous academic work. Adam Smith (1776), in his book, ‘The Wealth of Nations,” described the manufacturing process of Pin. He compared the output of one man performing all the process to 10 men performing one or two units of the processes. The one man only was able to produce 20 pins per day. Meanwhile, the 10 man group produced 48000 pins per day meaning 4800 pins per worker. This captures the importance of specialization, which obviously should begin at the school.
Particularly in Nigeria,emphasis has been on certificate rather than knowledge and ability. The corporate world encourages this in that they give preference to first class and second class upper division graduates to come for interview when they advertise their job opportunities. Thus, student, given the economic reality on ground pursue good grade recklessly through the instrument of cramming and perhaps examination malpractices to the expense of true knowledge and creativity. If the third world country should one day become a ‘developed country’ the ill practice should be discouraged by all educational stake holders.
The ordeals and the right model for the 21st Century studentsof the third world is by no means exhaustive, because I’m constrained by space and time, I consider the analysis of the confronting problems and the suggestions for the 21st century students’ model to suffice for the level of this work. I am convinced beyond measure that if the suggestions given above are critically looked into and the necessary measures taken, the 21st Century students will eclipse the students of the previous centuries in terms of achievement.
Abdulsalami Maliki is a Geology graduate from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
