Thread by @kayzafar

If we are to ditch the current education system & redesign it from scratch for #Pakistan w constrained resources & 22 million kids out of school & at least the same number getting sub par education, what r the questions u'd like to ask? Here is my list in no particular order. 1/

1. Are teachers needed? If they are, can we increase their effectiveness while increasing teacher:students ratio to say 1:200?

2. What is the cost break up of educating a child - infrastructure, salaries, utilities, books, etc? 2/

3. Why do v need 10-12 years of generalist education? Can it be shrunk to 3-5 years?

4. Can v replace generalist education in early years with disruptive solutions like Self Organized Learning Environments (SOLEs) where kids discover their interests driven by their curiosity? 3/

5. Can we experiment w focused specialist edu given the strengths of each student? Can we teach a kid with a parcel of farm land & interest in farming to become a better progressive farmer with curriculum laser focused for him/her. Why teach calculus to a fashion designer? 4/

6. There are multiple fields which do not require formal higher education to succeed & earn livelihoods. Can we encourage kids to pursue those fields without burdoning the higher ed system? For example, singing, dancing, stand up comedy, professional sports, etc 5/

7. Can v give technical vocational education the same status as professional degree oriented education so kids/parents pursue it w same passion and energy as university degree led education. Why have we created such a class divide between vocational and professional degrees? 6/

8. Why do we need undergrad to last 4 years? Can it be shrunk to 1 year?

9. Can we leverage madrassa and quranic education system to produce better spiritual leaders, guides and coaches?

10. What are the pros & cons of ditching most physical books from the education system. 7/

11. Can v identify great teachers from across the country & leverage tech/internet to have them teach 1000s of kids in remote areas using projector & aided by teaching assistants.

12. Is telepresence/AR/Holographic tech advanced enough to replicate great teachers everywhere? 8/

13. Can v change universities & turn them into research labs? Unis are a place for teaching, research & networking. Can v replace teaching w MOOCs. Networking w other social platforms. Research/labs work is executed in universities. They'll be smaller, cost less & fit more 9/

14. Can we ditch classrooms and replace with labs that foster experiential learning. What does the pedagogy look like in that system?

15. Can we promote home schooling and incentivise parents to adopt additional kids up to a max of 5-8. Basically crowd educate? 10/

16. Can v have a home grown education track based on some of the above & a separate export oriented Ed track for kids that care about o levels & a levels.

17. Can v assess the top skills in demand now, 5, 10,15 yrs from now, & replace higher ed with bootcamp 4 those skills 11/

18. Can we develop a curriculum that produces curious, entrepreneurial kids with strong analytical minds?

19. Given constrained resources, can v afford to not educate every child & just help some become better construction worker, sweeper, office boy w basic ethics training? 12/

20. Can we not provide free education to all? Can we incentivise good teachers and subsidize good students based on performance? 13/

I know some of these questions are tough and we may not like the answers or even have answers for all. But we need to ask more questions like these and come up w a solution that makes it sustainable for Pakistan to educate all kids. What questions would you ask? 14/14