Education
With pandemic disrupting many aspects of our lives. Education has certainly been impacted with a lot of classes moving online and major universities like MIT and Harvard being embroiled in controversies for continuing to charge hefty fees. This begs to ask a few fundamental questions — What education actually is? What is the value of education? How much should we pay for education? I had put my tweet on this topic almost a year back and now I plan to expand these ideas in this blog.
Education has always been considered something very sacrosanct and it is often suggested that one should keep on learning new things. In Asian societies, parents are willing to spend any amount on a child’s education because with money they want to give ‘the best education’. Even during the pandemic, people are 'expected' to learn new things to 'improve' their skills. In short, education is something unquestionable and one should not hesitate to spend time and money on it (This in fact has given rise to the education industry which I will discuss later). In other words, the difference between the perceived value and the price paid is very high. But in my opinion, it is just another product in a consumerist society, which is often acquired for material gains or vanity just like any other goods.
Let’s first have a look at the traditional way of education One of the most common forms of education is university degrees, which are often acquired not for knowledge, but for the higher earning potential. The higher earning potential can result from certain acquired skills which is in demand or just because of the reputation of the institution which certifies certain standards. So in this case, the education is not for a noble pursuit but for materialistic gains (and I don’t see any wrong in it). For this very reason, these institutions charge fees and hence return on investments is important just like any transaction in a capitalist society. Currently, there is a huge problem with this RoI which has given rise to the issue of educational debt.
Now let’s look at the recent trend of online education and especially through MOOC sites like Coursera. Again one can take these courses for material gains like traditional education. But in many cases the knowledge acquired from these courses remains unused as one in real life does not need so many skills for earning. E.g. if someone needs say only one computer language for his coding, the money spent on learning other programming languages does not result in material gains and hence are equivalent to a wasteful expenditure. It just appears good on CV. It benefits no one but the MOOC or certifying authority which has received some fee for it (I will continue this point later). This situation is exactly like some clothing company making you believe that you should buy a particular apparel because it will make you look good on a particular occasion. But in reality, you can live without it. One can do one’s job without all this education, but all these 'knowedge companies’ make you believe that they are important for your future. In short, spending on education for CV value is akin to buying stuff because marketers make you believe in its value.
Of course, people do like to learn new things and passionate about educating themselves. And definitely educating yourself with variety of topics develops you as a person and improves society as a whole. Engaging in conversations with people from diverse backgrounds enriches everyone. But it is different from gaining degrees and certifications for perceived future gains, which are just like any other acquisition without purpose. Perhaps like an additional outfit or cutlery set that we have bought, which we might not use at all in future. There is nothing superior about this expenditure just because it is education.
Now let’s return to the point which I have alluded earlier- who benefits from this expenditure if it is wasteful. The answer is the huge education industry. Not only MOOC but also traditional universities and colleges sustain because of this educational expenses. Things like tenured professors and college towns exist because people are ready to spend on the ‘noble’ pursuit of learning. MOOC and professional social media such as LinkedIn are just providing additional platforms for this educational complex. With proliferation of online resources for learning and pandemic taking shine of the universities, I wonder if this higher perceived value of education will continue. Will economic realities finally dawn on the industry and universities/ certifications lose their shine? That looks like the possibility in future.
