Truth be told- our education system does not teach us what is really important in life. Almost all what we are taught can actually be found on the web. The Internet is developing so rapidly that robots will be doing what humans are currently doing yet we are still using the same system our parents used and learning the same things that our grandparents learned.
We live our children to figure things out on their own. Some will argue it is the role of parenting but truth be told children need to learn the facts even as they learn the skills.
However, before we get carried away here are some of the classes we should have sat but didn’t (or that children need to sit).
FINANCES
Most people are wallowing in debt and have poor skills of handling finances whether they have little or much. Some take loans and do not know how to repay them. Some earn a lot of money but are living in poverty. Our parents want us to get high profile jobs so that we don’t have to go through the struggle they went through but the truth is without good financial skills we will be worse of than they ever were in their lifetime. School teaches us we need to be employed- you know study to get a good degree – but we are not taught how to employ. We are taught that we have to tarmac but we are not taught we can be entrepreneurs. We are not taught that wealth is not created by how much we spend but how much we save. For instance here in Kenya, the currency used is the Kenyan shilling. If we compared our currency to the world’s most powerful then our currency is very weak. For instance, 1 US$ is equivalent to KSH 100. In the present day, the price of a liter of fuel is KSH 100. Let me shock you a bit in 1935 the price of a liter of oil was 0.98 cents. See the difference. That is why everything is expensive –because of the inflation in the worth of a shilling. I have seen someone earning forty thousand shillings –they buy shares and stokes and through that, they are able to start their own business. On the other hand, I have seen someone earning 1.5 M shillings but they buy branded clothes, the most expensive car, lives under the rent of 60 000 per month, buys expensive watches and so on. Basically, live an expensive life but live in poverty. The difference between the two is where they invest their money. Therefore there is a really need to teach about personal finances in schools.
SAFETY AND SELF DEFENSE
There are increased cases of insecurity in the world today but people do not know how to keep themselves safe. People are learning from experience instead of learning from the desk. Con men and gangsters are getting new ways to display and exercise their skills by each passing day. You can either 1) shelter yourself from the evil or 2) use skills to combat the evil when it arises. There are situations when you have to comply with the demands of the attackers and there are situations where you need to attack for example in a case of a rape pepper spray and your fists /physical strength may be applicable. Beware of con men because they have mastered their skills and if you have none to combat theirs then you are likely to become a victim.
MENTAL HEALTH
People get concerned when someone’s head is ailing or in cases where there is a lack of physical health but in a case of mental health such as depression an individual is not given proper care or support. We laugh at anxious people not knowing we are making their situation worse instead of helping them to improve. People need to be educated on the reality of mental health. How to support someone with a mental health illness, how to show empathy and compassion and how to accept the individual as they are as you help them through it. Individuals also need to be taught prevention mechanisms such as how to cope with the hard knocks of life, how to avoid burn out and how to relax.
SOCIAL SKILLS
People need to be taught how to start a conversation and how to sustain one. Most people start a conversation but in the process cannot continue with it. Or start a conversation and do not have speech courtesy. They are inappropriate in what they do and /or say in that conversation. For others, they lack negotiation skills-their deals are vague. The conversation includes networking. Have you been to a place where people do not talk to each other? Technology has ruined us and this brings me to the next point.
HOW TO SURVIVE WITHOUT TECHNOLOGY
Most people are lost in technology. You are sited among a group of people who deserve your attention but your hands are itching for that phone. Our children no longer play with each other but spend the whole day on the television. The laptops are portable and are therefore being carried everywhere even when they are not necessary. Next time you are in a gathering please care about the creation of God that is in his image sited next to you more than your smartphone.
THE LAW
When most people are arrested the first thing they say is – I know my rights… but if you ask them what those rights are high chances they do not know. Ignorance of the law will not keep you out of criminal justice. Ignorance of the law is forbidden. Students should be taught, at a bare minimum, the laws that might have an effect on their lives as they are in school and as they graduate and enter society as fully culpable adults. They should be aware of laws that protect them such as the right to emergency medical care – you should not be forced to pay three hundred thousand to be admitted to hospital or pay for a service by an ambulance so as to receive healthcare.
Conclusion
Repair our sick education system and teach us about life in real.
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