Formal Education: A Tool For Development Or A Hinderance?

A child has the right to education in nearly every country of the world. It is a punishable offense to deprive a child of this right. Of the various forms of education that exist globally, none is as inclusive, required, and standardized as formal education. Formal education is a system defined by institutionalization and curriculum-based standards that run concurrently over time. It generally follows a ladder-like structure where educatees move a step higher after completing each stage. It takes place in classrooms with instructors presumed to be well-versed in the courses they teach. There are different forms of formal education— technical and vocational schools, colleges, universities, community institutions, and more. For the sake of this argument and clarity, I shall generalize formal education as schooling.

We are accelerating into a world where unschooled individuals may find themselves at a disadvantage, their potential deemed subpar by society. It is a world where a man who wants to be taken seriously must have attained a certain level of schooling. Is formal education a hindrance or a tool of development? I'd like to ask it more bluntly — Is school a scam?

The idea of schooling is to create an environment that simulates the demands of the world and prepares students with the skills necessary to thrive and lead. Through the curriculum, students are systematically exposed to conceptual and abstract facts and the methods to navigate them. Upon completion of schooling, students earn certificates usually graded based on performance. With these, they are expected to be fully equipped,  trustworthy, and employable in the labour, political, and civil markets. If schooling follows these rules and if employment remains the major medium through which we contribute to society, then schooling cannot be a scam. 

It is a widely accepted view that for every good, there is a bad. The question of reliability and viability would lie then in weighing one against the other. Does the good outweigh the bad?

Schooling was conceived to nurture children into financially independent adults who would contribute meaningfully to the nation's workforce. In this regard, schooling can be said to have failed. It promotes dependence on ready-made employment and employers with fixed salaries. In trying to guarantee labour and stable jobs, schooling has created an imminent financial dependence that may very well be a form of economic poverty. The school has also been described as a place where creativity goes to die. Through rigid curricula, standardized problems, and expected solutions, students are discouraged from exploring new ways of thinking. Originality is suffocated by predetermined outcomes. Schooling was formed to solve the problem of reasoning, but this has ironically become ineffective. 

It may be argued that by the time most students are done with their learning period, they have learned nothing. The system revolves around grades and examinations that test memorization, not understanding. This pushes students to memorize instead of learning. Natural curiosity and instinct to ask questions are stifled by course objectives and lesson aims. Schools simulate reality instead of exploring it, and all they aim to teach bears down to concepts. The school environment promotes seclusion from society, preventing students of different age groups from interacting. Even within a single classroom, there is segregation. The school, through its rankings and grades, separates the 'bright' students from the 'dull' ones. This is not the ideal environment to teach cohabitation in the practical world. The school can be a very demanding place. It makes no reliable provision for the human reality of different rates of comprehension. The school solution for a student who is not learning fast enough is more schooling.  Even the 'bright' students must work hard—too hard—to keep up with the demands.

Does the bad outweigh the good? Are the cons a fair price to pay for the pros? It may all boil down to personal conclusions because the idea of schooling remains an open debate. One may point out all the disadvantages of schooling, but one cannot ignore its relevance in society as a trainer and filter of sorts. The problems of schooling cannot be solved by scraping it, because the solution lies within. Its problems will be solved by reconstructing its processes. 

Schooling must evolve into a place where human diversity is embraced, where different paces of learning and alternate ways of assimilating are welcomed. It should be a safe medium to question facts, a place that prepares people not just for jobs but for life and ethical contributions to the world. 

Abdulrahmon Quareeb