Taking education to another level

Recently, 27 students showed one of the island’s indigenous companies just how much talent they possess by developing a business plan that will take that establishment into the future, and as a result each of these individuals will be doing an internship at Harris Paints in the upcoming months.

 

Through the Barbados Entrepreneurship Foundation’s Schoolroom to the Boardroom programme, secondary and tertiary level students have been granted the ability to view how businesses work close up and are allowed to have a hands-on experience.

 

This ability to learn at the feet ‘per se’ of managers, supervisors and even in some cases, the chief executive officers of businesses is a boon for youth as it takes away the unexpected and sometimes, unrealistic views of newcomers into the business world.

 

It has long been said that students do not know what to expect when they start working and as such, enter offices with one expectation, only to discover they are no longer in Kansas.

 

In fact, many companies have expressed some distress as persons freshly hired out of university do not display the attitudes or the skills necessary for the world of work.

 

It has long been my belief that each student, from every secondary school, should have the experience to work in a business establishment before they graduate.

 

Schools should go even further, dedicating a full year to teaching all students, regardless of their academic background, to learning how to write an application letter, curriculum vitae and résumé and have these be sent out to various businesses, which would then ‘hire’ them to work for one day every other week.

 

This would even go far for those who seek to become entrepreneurs in their own right, because it would give them a base, a platform or a foundation on which to build as they see the best practices in play within the business they are attached, or even see where they could do better and implement newer ideas and models as they go forward.

 

It would give the youth a chance to pick the brains of those who went before and ask questions they may have that cannot be gleaned from Google.

 

Without a doubt, such a move would take some logistical work, but it can be done if the educational system is revamped from its archaic moorings.

 

We cannot expect to continue to use a curriculum that was successful in the 19th and 20th century and hold steady to the belief that in spite of so many advancements since then, that the tried and true way is the way for today.

 

Do not get me wrong, I am not suggesting that we throw out the baby with the bathwater, but what I am suggesting is that in a technological world where children spend copious amounts of time in front of the computer or on their tablets or yes, even on their smartphones that it is necessary to bring various aspects of teaching alive for those who may not be able to grasp a concept by reading words in a textbook, but can understand by having a visual of the abstraction.

 

If we want our youth to step out of the box and into the land of innovation, our education system must do the same.