The public debate on whether education standards are falling rages occasionally with varying intensity.
When the public sees evidence of the weak grip that some younger people have on general knowledge issues in history, geography and civics, some assume the role of handwringer-in-chief, labelling the stark and inexcusable level of education of many younger people.
A video clip from a TV quiz programme went viral when it showed two guests answering “Birgu” to history questions to name the two Japanese cities destroyed by atomic bombs in 1945. This was not the only howler that thousands could witness during quiz programmes.
Apart from the apparent lack of preparation by the programme producers, one needs to ask whether younger generations are less interested in acquiring knowledge their parents possessed decades ago.
The quiz programme presenter, Etienne Schembri reacted harshly to the sarcastic comments made by many on social media about the lack of preparedness of the participants.
He argues: “This is nothing but bullying.”
It might well be the case as criticism often tends to be vicious on social media. But the issue that must be discussed is whether the lack of general knowledge is a handicap to their present and future prosperity.
Two guests answered ‘Birgu’ to history questions to name the two Japanese cities bombed in 1945 with the atomic bomb
The ‘we don’t need education’ syndrome is not just a local issue. In the US, results from formal tests, collectively known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress, confirm that American students are getting worse at history, geography, and civics.
Education academics and other stakeholders in the education field have various theories about why this apparent deterioration in the grasp of general knowledge is happening.
Some blame social media which has reduced many younger people’s interest in reading and acquiring knowledge and are sadly absorbing fictitious content. Others argue: what is the point of teaching facts in the age of Google when you can just teach critical thinking?
Critical thinking is, of course, essential, but you cannot think critically about what you do not know. While it is essential to guide young people to think analytically, they can do that only if they have relevant factual information.
And how can we get children to understand what they are reading if we pursue teaching these supposed analytical skills in the abstract?
The worst thing we can do is to just accuse the younger generations as weaker, less hard-working or less resilient than their parents.
Generational context could be vital to narrowing divides between decades. Looking down on young adults is such a long-established and innate instinct that it will, undoubtedly, be difficult to undo.
The way forward is to create awareness of what different generations have gone through.
Older generations must stop dumping on younger generations and create a dialogue that does not exist today.
It is time for education policymakers, commentators and other stakeholders to stop providing misleading explanations that will only lead to more handwringing about the low educational achievement of our young people.
Our schools must raise standards rather than dumbing them down. In this day and age they must emphasise the need to question more.
We also need higher levels of parental education.
The teaching of history, geography and civics should feature in the curricula, beginning from elementary level, to ensure all young people have a good grounding on the relevant facts that have forged the society they live in.