Why Do We Need To Move the Focus of Higher Education System?
Higher Education has recently been commercialized. People go to college to become professionals in high – tech oriented fields. Jobs that require technological competence are on top of the rankings because of their remuneration. This is what higher education is all about.
The higher education system puts so much emphasis on the mechanical aspect of completing work. Students solve intricate mathematical problems and memorize complex physics formulas, which eventually they will enter in the computer. It will do the work for them. All they need to do is learn how the technological process works. This is the norm and trend. When they obtain this kind of “knowledge” they will secure a jobs that will be well paid and will not require strenuous physical work.
What can we do about the current situation? Drastic alterations should be implemented in order to move the focus. Students should be engaged in more hands – on and face – to – face activities. This is when we feel truly satisfied with what we are doing. This is when pleasure of us doing whatever we like comes into play, because we are the authors and editors of our work. Jobs involving manual skills (and personal contacts, also) allow us to use our imagination, to invent and discover. Hands – on activities give us the opportunity to be creative and productive. They are the true exercise for the mind.
It is a fact that contemporary higher education system is focused on providing we students with sophisticated skills regarding the ability to efficiently use technology. We are used to computerizing every process. But what would we be left with when all these technological advancements start to dwindle? As Camille Paglia says “Concrete manual skills…build a secure identity.” Future generations should be taught to think in terms of what we, human beings, are capable of doing by means of our inherent ability to envision and create.
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