ASH PHOENIX
Education and the schools of tomorrow is my topic of today’s article. The world is significantly changing. We are experiencing a second digital revolution after the introduction of the internet thirty years ago changed our human existence radically. Hence, different skills will be required and the rigid curricula that are taught at most schools worldwide should be a thing of the past. With a changing world, schools need to make children digitally literate so that they can easily adapt to the brave new world.
The Cambridge IGCSE examinations are a good example as a curriculum that provides more than seventy subjects to choose from. However, a lot more needs to happen than the introduction of IT subjects. I believe that we need a radical step forward. School timetables are largely still stuck in the twentieth century and I insist that this is a worldwide phenomenon. Maybe, not all children have to know in depth about physics, chemistry or higher mathematics. Most things that they need to learn can be googled nowadays, are explained in YouTube videos, in online tutorials or even audiobooks that can be found on the internet.
The mode of operation has changed in the last couple of years, and our children are the pioneers of the digital age – they do not store facts in their brains anymore but instead search them in the cloud. I believe that not only the way we acquire knowledge is changing but also the things that we need to learn are different in the digital age. As I see it, the following areas will be increasingly important for children in order to succeed: (i) computer skills, (ii) communication – both conventional and digital, (iii) critical thinking and problem solving, (iv) psychological, physical and spiritual wellbeing, and (v) tolerance and the understanding of other cultures and religions beyond our own. Consequently, children will need to know how a computer works, how it can be used, fixed and programmed. For the communication in today’s global world, they should be able to speak English as if it was their mother tongue. Mauritius is a fine example of this as the children are taught in English although their mother tongue is mostly French or Creole. Further, they should be able to compose videos and edit photos so that they can express themselves in the digital age. For their mental wellbeing, they should study philosophy, sociology, psychology and spirituality/religious studies. Physical education should include yoga and meditation from an early age onwards. 
Children are never overwhelmed if we teach them in a manner that they perceive as play. I believe that one day, my dream will come true, and a few inspired adults will create a school so that our children can succeed in the digital age. I envisage a school that teaches subjects like critical thinking and problem solving (nowadays called synthesis), computer science, digital media and computer graphic design amongst more traditional subjects like philosophy and psychology, and creative subjects where children engage in digital and traditional art, music and drama, alongside skill courses like debating, communication, business studies and modern languages. What young people will need in the future is the ability to solve problems, research the internet, and use digital media to broaden their knowledge instead of memorising content by heart.
I have a dream. Those words were first formulated by Martin Luther King in order to explain his fight against racial separation. Since then, many famous speakers have used those words to fight for something that they believed in. Some dreams are big, some are small, some dreams materialise, some do not. On occasion, when a dream becomes reality, it may change the destiny of more than a few people. My dream is small but may mean the world for children of the digital age.
I have a dream of a school that teaches children the things they will truly need in later life.
I have a dream of a school that encourages children to solve problems with the tools they find in the cloud.
I have a dream of a school that teaches children coping mechanisms for their wellbeing.
I have a dream of a school that accepts children’s quirks and special interests and sees them as a gift that is worth nourishing.
I have a dream of a school where future entrepreneurs like Elon Musk are bred, not streamlined children that lose all their creativity because of school pressure.
Musk did not like school as a child. ‘I hated going to school when I was little, it was torture,’ Musk confessed, who was bullied as a child in South Africa. Elon Musk is a child of Africa and now he is the wealthiest man in the world. He early on recognised the need for a revolution in education and founded an experimental school for kids like him that did not fit in. It is called Ad Astra which means: To the stars.
One of the greatest assets of Mauritius is its free public education until tertiary level. My dear reader, let us make our little paradise island that special place for children where we – as adults – actively support them to develop their creativity and ability to succeed in the digital age. Let us come together to help our children to reach the stars!