The understanding of the global learning crisis
If one lives in a well-developed country, he or she might think that the global learning crisis is a myth: everyone can get a secondary education and has a chance to enter the university. There are hundreds of scholarships and opportunities to study in another country, etc. Therefore, the question appears: where is the global learning crisis? However, if we take a step back and look at the bigger picture – we might notice that the global learning crisis is over here, and, surprisingly, very often it has nothing to do with education.
So, why do we call it a global learning crisis and not education crisis? According to research, on top of the quarter of a billion children who are out of school, even more, three hundred thirty million children are in school but failing to learn. Often, the question of education is not a priority. What about the economy, infrastructure, wars, global warming, etc.? Apparently, all these issues are quite important. However, we will not be able to fix them without having enough educated minds.
Obviously, it is a human nature to want to get the result immediately or shortly. When you sow the seeds, you have to wait for a while for the harvest. It works the same way with education. Every time one sows a small seed – he or she makes investments in his or her future. One might think what if the harvest will not come down or there is going to be a drought. Therefore, he or she is afraid of making some efforts and investments. Nonetheless, people should understand that when it comes to learning, you will not get the results immediately. It might take time; one might face some obstacles. However, without proper education and knowledge, nothing will grow at all.
How we can prevent the global learning crisis
If we do nothing about the situation, by 2030 half of the world’s children and youth will be either out of school or failing to learn. Therefore, we have to make important and decisive decisions to change the current and further situation. First, we need to change the world’s focus from schooling to learning, from counting how many bodies are in the classrooms to actually how many are learning. Therefore, schools and universities have to track the student’s progress and check whether the learned information is understood or not. There are cases when students don’t know how to write a scholarship essay.
However, to succeed, we need to motivate not only children and students to learn, but we also need to encourage teachers. Therefore, we need more qualified teachers. In the twenty-first century, becoming a teacher might sound not very perspective, because one might not earn that much money. Nonetheless, he or she spends lots of time, energy and efforts. On the one hand, nowadays, a lot of people do not take such occupation as a teacher respectfully. However, on the other hand, if one takes a step back and look at the bigger picture once again, he or she realizes that learning and education are essential, it is a necessary and important thing we cannot live without. Let’s assume that you want to become a businessman, doctor, or politician – you cannot apparently achieve your goal without the knowledge and decent education. Very often the government pays a lot of attention to economy or infrastructure. However, people should realize that the most important infrastructure we have minds, educated minds. Thus, the government and the society should support and motivate teachers as well.
Unfortunately, nowadays, there is a stereotype that the sphere of education is poor and does not bring money. We haven’t mentioned the crucial fact that exactly that branch of social life is the main wall of the big house of success.
Why learning is an important and integrant tool that leads to success?
Often, children and students do not understand completely why they need to study. First, they suppose they need to go to school because their parents want so; secondly, they do it because everyone else does. Therefore, the children and the youth do not realize why they learn and, moreover, they do not have enough awareness and motivation to learn. If the children and the youth are not from well-developed countries and they grow up with the idea that learning and education is not an important thing, they do not strive for it. As a result, it is important to encourage children and the youth to study and show them the benefits they might get if they are good-educated. Learning brings not only better job opportunities, but it also gives a better vision of life. If you are well-educated and able to think critically – it is not so easy to manipulate you. Therefore, as Nelson Mandela said: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” If one wants to lead others, make big changes and succeed in life, he or she should have an educated, open, and critical mind.
Children and student should understand that they do not waste their time in classrooms getting anything, but they are earning something significant, the results of what sometimes they do not get immediately, but those results have much bigger values than money. As a rule, schoolchildren or students pay money to others to get their work done because they do not have enough time or are just too lazy to do it. However, they do not realize that they might save a couple of hours, but at the same time, they lose something more important: knowledge and opportunities. In the twenty-first century, there are so many opportunities for everyone they could not hope for the decades ago. Therefore, we must use this opportunity. The question of the global learning crisis should not be neglected by the government or the society. Perhaps, each of us is only a drop in the ocean, but our voice is important because we form the ocean and are a part of it.