Education at its worst...

From the beginning of time until fairly recently, education was a family affair. The family unit in general and the parents in particular prodded, nudged and guided their young by teaching them skills, etiquette and acceptable behaviour.

As civilisation progressed and the demand for skills broadened beyond the ability of individual families, education needed to be outsourced and eventually evolved into what we call schools.

For better or worse, schools are the surrogate households of today and teachers, our children’s surrogate parents. If we are to judge an educational institution based on its success, what are the KPIs (key performance indicators)?

In my opinion, the education system in the west has evolved into a “12 years preparation for HSC”. Every year is just one more stepping stone towards that all-important ATAR, which, in turn, is only valuable in order to get into the best universities.

However, if a school produces many distinguished students with enviable grades, but who lack motivation for life, what is it worth? If the character of our children is not moulded and their morals not refined, of what value is their education?

Success in life, however one defines it, cannot be relegated to a number out of 100. Do teachers view their role as merely transferring information from their heads into the heads of their students ‒ a virtual USB data transfer?

Education needs to be reframed. It isn’t about teaching people what to think, but rather how to think. Education is giving children the life skills needed to know how to approach difficult problems, how to confront moral dilemmas and how to create meaningful lives.

No ATAR can ever do that.