Shreyas Bakshi

  Happy Teachers' Day to all those who teach—professionally or socially. Over the past decade or so, I have had the opportunity to interact with quite a few people who teach as a profession. Based on these interactions, today I find myself wondering: Have we designed an education system worthy of the value it creates for all? Teaching is widely regarded as a noble profession. And rightly so! But somewhere along the way, have we made noble = selfless = less money?   We often hear that people choose teaching because they want to “ give back to society ”. There is nothing wrong with that motivation. In fact, it is admirable. But should choosing to contribute to society mean choosing a profession that pays less? Perhaps the question goes beyond teachers’ compensation. It takes us to some deeply embedded beliefs about what education is, what students and parents pay for, how institutions are assessed and compensated, and so on. These beliefs may vary across region...

We have been talking about learning to learn for decades. Research on metacognition, learner autonomy and lifelong learning has established its importance. Education systems are also evolving to respond to changing skills and market needs. So, this is not about introducing a new idea. It is about asking a different question: Have we designed our education systems to systematically help people become better at learning? Much of our effort has gone into making education more relevant to a changing world.  Curricula are updated, new skills are introduced and people are encouraged to reskill or recertify. But if the world keeps changing as rapidly as we know it has in recent times, how long can we keep updating what people need to know? Perhaps we should also make learners more capable of adapting to a changing world. That means developing learning competency : the ability to identify what they need to learn, seek and comprehend relevant knowledge, contextualise and a...