In a session today, we were talking about the costs of taxpayer-funded education and the variation in school systems around the world, with Finland being pretty good at providing a slightly above average education experience. However, there are also a lot of problems with education systems, as they tend to support getting degrees, even if they won't be used. The other thing is, that for example in Finland, many will opt for a Masters degree, which I have always had a bit of an issue with.
It could be the naming convention that rubs me the wrong way, but a "master" isn't someone who has the theoretical knowledge of the job, but rather someone who can master the application of the theory and perform the tasks of the job with excellence. And, if a person is yet to do the job, how can they have proven themselves masterful? And then on top of this, the schooling can only teach general-level information, rather than the specifics for an individual role in a field, so it can't hit the precise needs of an organization.
So, what about a hybrid system instead, where instead of going to school for many years without generating anything, the time to value can be shortened by teaching the basics and then, only once in a specific role, would there be the continued education. This way, the role specifics can dictate what courses are required to perform the role well, and for example, a new employee in this position could work four days a week and have one day for lectures and study.
This way, the organization gets what they specifically need at that time rather than relying on a slow-moving education offerings, the education system can be more optimized to the needs of industry and, the student is getting hands on experience and learning immediately applicable skills that can advance their learning much faster. This seems like a better option than theory-based learning that doesn't get applied for a decade, by which time it is largely out of date and needs to be relearned.
Essentially, this makes all higher education much like trade school education, with basics and fundamentals taught in the classroom, and then a changeover process of on the job training and specialization. This also would encourage better job fit, because rather than having to leave a job to change roles or needing all skills to take a job, there could be "study leave" applied weekly. This also means that a company can employee someone full-time and if they want to study one day a week, it would also be possible to have that day taxpayer-funded, in a rebate system for reskilling.
I also think that this encourages a better career progression, where for example a young employee could learn the skills required for their entry-level position, and then only learn more skills as they start to progress through an organization. If they choose they are happy where they are, they needn't continue skilling, but if they change their mind, they can pick it up again, rather than investing time and resources into learning what they "may" need down the track, even though it'll likely be irrelevant by the time they would need it.
This also means that there can be more focused formats for what are essentially mini-courses, that can better align with demand, and potentially be attended globally, with more flexibility. Remote sessions aren't going away, and what this can do is lower the bar for attendance making it more inclusive, as well as reduce overall costs by removing the unnecessary components that aren't required right at this time by an employee. It can also put demand on specific educations by becoming prerequisite for some job changes, whether internal or across companies.
While this isn't a privatization of education, it can encourage a more diverse landscape of offerings and inclusion of additional courses that might not be in demand enough to warrant running a specific degree program for it, but would be useful for specific roles. With a changing professional industry that is affected by rapidly shifting technology, cultural change and employment participation, the education systems have to shift to accommodate the changing landscape in order to meet actual demand and in doing so, likely become more relevant to both business and student.
While this is just one potential model, the education systems and offerings are going to have to find ways to be useful again, otherwise they will fall into such irrelevance, they will not offer any value. Yet, because they are tax-funded, it will be decades before they are retired, becoming increasingly large money pits offering nothing useful to the people who pay for them.
What is pretty certain, is that the changing needs of businesses and the way people use the knowledge, is going to have an impact on what people need to learn and that means, if the education systems aren't supporting well enough, people have to take matters into their own hands. This is already happening to some degree, but will continue, creating an opportunity for both those who demand more education, and those who are able to provide good education.
On the job training has far more value than theoretical in most instances, so having flexibility to not only learn, but get formal skill training in bitesize pieces along the journey should be valuable to individuals. Not only this, because it all becomes trackable, learning these skills alongside performance creates a compelling package to either use as leverage for a better position, or reason to look after the talent a company has. The skill is worth more than the piece of paper - being able to apply the skill is the proof though.
I have talked to a lot of managers over the years and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find people who can actually do the work in practice. Doing it this way gives not only a little more certainty, but also ways to improve skills for those who tick most boxes, but need a little more development in some. This gives flexibility and incentive in both directions to both perform as an employee and keep employees engaged and satisfied, whilst continuously developing and reskilling the group to be able to keep up with the changing world.
There are lots of better variations, than what we have available and, the needs will keep changing.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
