The kids are not all ok.
New OECD data shows children within the block falling behind on math and language scores. Particularly dramatic is the pre-post covod lockdown fallout, however, as obvious as such a result was to predict, the rot in the WEIRD West schooling system set in a good 10 years prior.
Something is rotten. And it’s a particularly western, rich world problem - (Asian states even with heavy lockdowns faired much better post Covid - largely due to very human hands-on catch up programmes but we’re also doing better prior).
What’s going on?
What education policies / syllabuses / hiring practices shifted in the 10’s?
Why are eduction gains backsliding?
And what should we do to reverse the trend?
Past performance is no guarantee of future ROI - but also - doing the same (failing) thing, spending more on the same broken old ideas is not going to get us different results.
dion chang and myself have long foreseen and spoken out against the breakdown in an industrial education system no longer morally or fiscally fit for purpose. It’s sad to see warnings turn into evidence of failure.
But tomorrow is another day - what are we going to do about your future colleagues, customers and citizens? Are we going to continue throwing good money (and formative years) after bad? Or are we going to have the “come to Jesus” moment and change our ways?
Read more:
Another brick in the wall : https://www.economist.com/international/2023/12/05/the-pandemics-toll-on-schooling-emerges-in-awful-new-exam-results?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-theeconomist&utm_content=later-39714468&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkin.bio
Post-school economy : https://fluxtrends.com/the-post-school-economy-the-future-of-education/
We don’t need no education?