We don’t need no education

“Welcome back, Dad. How was work?”

“It was fine, Son. How was your day? I notice you’re watching TV. Does that mean you’ve finished your homework?”
“Not yet, Dad. I don’t feel like doing homework.”

“Son, on a few things, there’s no compromise - and homework just happens to be one of those things. A boy’s gotta do what a boy’s gotta do.”

“But Pink Floyd sang, ‘We don’t need no education’, Dad.”

“Examine that statement closely, Son. This pink chap whom you have taken a fancy to has used a double negative. Shorn of its negativism, what he actually said was that we do need some education. So there!”

“But, Dad… There’s so much being said nowadays about the fact there isn’t enough opportunity for higher studies in this country.”

“Higher studies is for the specialists, Son – those who want to know more and more about less and less. You stick to the Three Rs for the time-being, Son.”

“The Three Rs, Dad..?”
“Yes, Son. That’s a widely-used abbreviation in the United States for the basic elements of a primary school curriculum: reading, ’riting (writing), and ’rithmetic (arithmetic).”

“So much for their spelling skills..! But what thereafter, Dad? There aren’t enough university seats to go around, it seems.”

“That is a fact, Son. More than 100,000 students pass their Advanced Level examinations each year but there are only about 15,000 university seats available to them. That means, every year, nearly a hundred thousand students do not have access to higher education within the country.”

“But they can go abroad to study, can’t they, Dad?”

“Yes, they can, Son - if they can afford to. Some of our best and brightest will go abroad to study, and stay on. Besides, it would be a drain on the country’s foreign exchange reserves too, because their fees would most likely be paid from here, in precious foreign currency.”

“What about those who graduate from Sri Lankan universities, Dad?”

“Many of them would go abroad too, Son. They will also contribute to this phenomenon called brain drain, instead of contributing to the country. But that’s okay because they would send foreign exchange back home. We sow in rupees and reap in dollars.”

“It has been observed that our country is better at creating graduates than at employing them. Forcing them to remain within the country would simply reduce our return on investment.”

“So, what needs to be done, Dad? The fact that these blokes have to go abroad to study could result in something of a crisis, couldn’t it?”

“I guess so, Son. Now listen to me: When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.”

“I appreciate that nugget of wisdom, Dad. But what are you getting at?”

“The solution is simple, Son: Sri Lanka has good educational facilities, only not enough of it. We should invest in more educational facilities that can generate a global income. If existing institutions are unable to cope with the demand for higher education, we must throw higher education open to the private sector.”

“But, wouldn’t that result in standards getting diluted, Dad?”

“Not if you get these private institutions affiliated to and accredited by the universities, to start with. For example, Son - The best management institutes in India are independent, not even affiliated to any university.”

“What else needs to happen to the education system, Dad?”

“Our curriculum needs to train students to think creatively and critically, Son – not how to memorise, but how to apply knowledge. Why do you think the British examinations permit you to use a calculator while the local ones do not?”

“I don’t know, Dad.”

“Because the foreign exams test your ability to apply. They prepare students for the real world. Goldsmith’s village schoolmaster whose ‘one small head could carry all he knew’ is an outdated idiom.”

“What else, Dad?”

“There needs to be more interaction between academia and industry. Students need to be trained in team work, communication and leadership too... Plan for the future, Son, because that’s where I think we are going to spend the rest of our lives.”

“Okay, okay, Dad… I’ll finish my homework…!”