By U AC
In a world where the concept of education itself is being challenged by the speed of ai development, it may be worth re-examining the value of our education in this world.
The first misconception that a lot of us have, especially true in Myanmar, is the mistaken belief that even if you do not have an education, you can still become a boss who employs educated people. Fact: only one in a hundred thousand people, without an education would be smart enough to accomplish that. If it is so effortless to become a boss, why would people even want to be employees in the first place? Simply put, having no education is not equivalent to becoming a boss in the near or far future.
Not just in Myanmar, but even in the US, 56 per cent of Americans now believe a degree is no longer worth the time or money spent on it. (WSJ, March 2023). Yet the investment return stats do not support that survey result. 1970, Americans with a university degree earned 35 per cent more than a typical high school graduate. In 2021, this college wage premium has risen to 66 per cent. The typical return for a bachelor’s degree is now around 14 per cent, dropped from a peak of 16 per cent in the early 2000s.
We always wonder whether the choice of subject or the selection of school matters. Based on research, the choice of subject and timely education matter hugely, and the choice of institution less so. As empirical evidence, those who studied programming or IT-related degrees in prestigious universities four or five years ago, are not getting internships in any of FAANG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) companies. These companies aren’t offering any internships this year, due to a significant portion of low-level or starting IT jobs now being in the hands of AI. Adding to that, a hundred thousand IT-related retrenchments last year, it is fathomable why the wrong choice of subject might end you up being out of work. The same reasoning held up for studying IT ten years ago. Those graduates from even middle-ranked universities ended up having good jobs, as the demand exceeded supply in that industry sector at the point of their qualification.
The third point to highlight is the dropping out misjudgement by youngsters. Those nonchalant about dropping out would often cite Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs as role models of success after dropping out. Yet, just like Colonel Saunders who only found success at the ripe old age of 80, these specimens are one in a billion. Dropping out is an obvious way for you to make a big loss, based on empirical findings. In addition, taking longer than usual to graduate also destroys the value of education. Based on global statistics, less than 40% of undergrad complete their courses in an expected number of years. About one quarter still have no qualifications three years after that.
With Covid finally, in oblivion, 98 per cent of public schools were teaching all lessons in person by 22 June. However, we now realize Covid has a negative impact on educational standards overall. In 2021, pass rates for English and math tests fell by six & 12 per cent points, representing a 12 per cent and 25 per cent decline compared to the results from 2019. The cause was mainly attributed to online teachings, during the two years of Covid. The consequences of learning lost during the pandemic still linger till now.
With regard to our own country, Myanmar has seen its heyday in its education. From being the centre of learning in Asia from the early to mid-1900s to now being ranked 6,500+ globally for our then famous University of Yangon, lack of investment in educational infrastructure and years of mis-management has left the country graduates in an undesired pool of young professionals, lacking skills to add value to companies in the contemporary world. Incorporating soft skills, such as presentation, public speaking, fact-checking, etc., and hard skills such as programming, information technology, second language, etc., into the present-day curriculum would definitely enlarge the value created out of our current educational system in the shortest possible time horizon.
