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Sep 08, 2007

"Whenever you think about the future, no matter where you start, if you think about it long enough, you'll always wind up thinking about education. . . . Brain power is the answer no matter what the question, and for brains to function well they have to be well stocked with information and ideas, and trained in coming up with fresh, new approaches." Richard Worzel

Category: General

Posted by: webmaster

Article by: Michael Campbell, Vancouver Sun

I love this quote. Of course, it's not nearly as pithy as the "children are our greatest investment" and "children are our key to the future" -- declarations made routinely this time of year as our young ones head back to school.

But Worzel is trying to say more than just "look at my great enlightened goodness." Worzel is issuing a warning that if we don't adapt our education system to meet the challenges of a world that changes with breathtaking speed, then we will be left behind individually and collectively.

For a large number of people, that is already happening. This week, the TD Bank released a study that revealed that 39.3 per cent of children aged 15 don't have the literary skills to function effectively in today's world. One in four Canadian adults are functionally innumerate, while one in five are functionally illiterate. The numbers jump to 48 per cent of the adult population over 16 when tested for the ability to use the information that they read effectively. Fifty-five per cent of Canadians have inadequate skills when it comes to basic math.

The implications are staggering in terms of employability and the ability to learn new skills in a changing business environment. What is the likelihood of being able to successfully re-train workers who lack the skills to effectively assimilate and use reading material like textbooks and manuals?

The impact on the overall economy is profound. StatsCan estimates that for every one-per-cent increase in literacy rates our productivity would rise 2.5 per cent, and overall GDP jumps 1.5 per cent.

When it comes to individual earning power, the TD Bank study reports that average earnings for those with strong literacy skills were twice as high as for those with poor skills ($42,239 vs. $20,692). No other factor will contribute more than the lack of literacy skills to the creation of a permanent economic underclass, yet our focus on these key issues in the delivery of education is virtually non-existent.

Think about it. How much of our discussion on education ever gets beyond the latest contract issues? If a child's education is really the key to our future, then parents, teachers, school boards and the ministry of education better wake up to the fact that class size and salaries are not the key determinants of effective schooling.

Where is the focus on innovation in terms of delivery, critical thinking, and preparation for meeting the challenge brought on as our competition with countries like China and India intensifies? How are we going to deal with the increasing gap between the literacy rates between girls and boys? Unfortunately, as Worzel points out, "The problem is that education and the means by which we deliver it is the single social structure most resistant to change at a time when change is happening faster than at any other time in human history."

I'm not suggesting that there is a magic bullet to meet our educational challenges. I'm simply pointing out that meeting the challenges of a 21st-century education is not even on the agenda. I couldn't find a single editorial this week on new and better ways to educate both children and adults. I didn't see or read one story on successful innovations implemented in other jurisdictions. It's all back to school shopping, and the added stress for parents.

Not to put too fine a point on it -- that's not good enough. What's at stake socially and economically is too great to ignore.

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