"We don't need no education………. all in all you're just another brick in the wall!"

We all grew up listing to “we don't need no education………. all in all you're just another brick in the wall” by Pink Floyd. It was relevant then and it is relevant now! Globally student were taught what the government thought was right as government was responsible for people being educated! however the purpose of education was to create human being with same knowledge that government could use to pursue its cause! Student and teachers alike were closed users group who learned from their books made available by the school or its library by the grants provided by the government! Every subject was taught in the classroom environment but no one cared how many people learned, while some people did and they went on to do exactly what government wanted them to do! Hence the 20:80 principal! 20% learned and those 20% ran the government, the country, the economy etc. etc., and rest 80% ….."just another brick in the wall". Some smart educators changed system…. and they did manage to in higher education and started making another kind of “brick” that was exclusively for corporate world! So ultimately there were bricks and bricks…difference being one type was use to build Government walls and other to build private sector wall(Wall Street may be?)! Yes…"all in all you'r are just another brick in a wall!"

Education - what it does to you & me? Probably nothing! What is taught in in school was/is rarely ever used in any professional life! So why go to school? A ‘Home taught’ girl called Malvika Joshi form Mumbai, India, not only did very well in local exam but also got herself a scholarship in MIT in USA! So what does school education do - it teaches what government and educators want to teach you. It is a kind of feudal system where you learn what education system, prescribed by the government, wants you to learn. In effect you learn is what others want you to learn for their own benefit! School teaches that makes good for nothing and universities teach you what makes you salaried employee. Again.....all in all you are another brick in a wall, a govt. wall or a corporate wall.  

Teachers -and their importance? In my opinion, teachers at school have lots their relevance. Teachers just focus on syllabus and their measure of good student is grades in the subject they teach. ! Well you can’t blame them as in olden days there was no Internet and only source of information was either thru text books or via books in the library. Teachers only knew limited stuff and they taught as much. They never thought of upgrading or acquiring more knowledge as it required resources and money. They were just doing a job of teaching without bothering if anyone is learning or not. Grades don't tell how much one has learned! Learning was and is responsibility of student(s). If they understood, good else make your effort to learn and if you cant, sorry it’s up to parents! They never thought about talent, research, mental growth, personality growth, etc., as what was important for them was grades! So some of the students who stuck to the books, got favors from teachers. Where as some of more talented students never got to show any talent, as their grades were low. Hence now all that we have become is ‘Demographic Dividend’! That’s resentful as student with low grades are no sweat shops workers! Learning has long gone and so has learned people. Teachers were supposed to teach us to learn. So Malvika Joshi, who learned at home, is a case in point! You don't need teachers! This is true at all levels, school and even universities. Teachers and professors provide you with assignment and rest is up-to you. Can all this be done without the help of Schools & teachers? Yes, definitely yes! Then why do one need a teachers? One doesn't! Unless……..

Technology has come a long way and making educators understand how to make teachers relevant! Each human being is different as each of them have unique DNA and hence they have different abilities. Technology can help us understand each human beings ability to perform various tasks at a very early stage. The focus should be on children and understanding their abilities in respect to various tasks! If one can identify the interest of a child and their ability to perform various task, a teacher can then work with children enhance their interest and their abilities. In other words what CHILDREN NEED IS A MENTOR, A GUIDE, A GURU WHO CAN HELP THEM UNDERSTAND WHAT TO DO WITH THEIR ABILITIES!

Teacher as MENTOR- as teachers role has evolved or rather I would say that that was always the real role! Each student came with different ability, different liking or interest! Teachers job was to identify it and help them sharpen those abilities so that they can become the best in their respective ability or what we call skills! It would acted like a double sided sword that would have helped children learn what they love and also make a living out of what they love! It is that simple! Further, technology now allows cross border relationships and that would mean one can choose mentorfrom across the globe. On the other side, A mentor can extend his relationship anyone, anytime anywhere!. In all, TECHNOLOGY can help DISCOVER ability (called talent & skills) in each individual, suggest a ability based GUIDED LEARNING PATH for each one of them and connect to a MENTOR to help walk that path!

Finally proof of the pudding is also here. One startup called UnlearnKids is addressing children’s problem of learning MATH. We all know of Math Demon that is in many children’s mind. Learning Math is important as it builds and enhances ones analytical skills that would come handy in all parts of life and prevents one from becoming "Just a brick”. UnlearnKids, built a proprietary algorithm , found out what was the exact problem(s) with each student as each on of them came with different ability of learning and grasping MATH! However since the teachers were treating all the children as they were of same ability, there were different conceptual gaps being created in students' understanding and hence their ability to solve a Mathematical problem and hence their lower grades!Unlearnkids.com solved the problem as it DOES AWAY with ‘one size fits all’ approach. The AI driven program is designed for ABILITY-WISE learning rather than age-wise learning.

UnlearnKids is a platform that first helps finds the gaps in the conceptual understanding of each students. Next platform creates a curriculum that helps fills those gaps and let them move ahead according to their own pace and capacity. The unique guided learning path of each student keeps updating based on his or her performance. The entire platform is build using what it calls NANOSKILLS, the most important element in PERSONALIZED and ADAPTIVE LEARNING process. Unlearn Kids platform consist of thousands of “NANOSKILLS” that have been created keeping in mind the psychological status of children and their learning ability. The learning algorithm makes sure that the gradient of difficulty is low so that next “NANOSKILLS” falls under the zone of proximal development and child can solve it on his own and rather than telling them the mathematical laws directly, let them discover it through patterns and practice.

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