The World Economic Forum has a Human Capital Index (HCI) which measures a country’s ability to nurture, develop and deploy talent for the economy.
At the risk of belittling the other portfolios (which I am not), I believe from the bottom of my heart that education is one of the most important investments a country should make for its people. Education nurtures and develops talent which adds to the productivity and increases the GDP potential of a country. A country prospers when its people are well educated, and in time, its smart citizens contribute to further prosperity of the country. Likewise, parents who invest in the education of the child, be it formal schooling or home education, will nurture and develop a talented and self-directed young adult. In my opinion, the life cycle of well-being always starts with education. Hence, I worry a lot when there is school closure, just like many of the parents who speak to me. While we wait for the kettle to boil, do we just tap our fingers and whistle leisurely? We aren’t talking about the short wait to make our coffee here. We are talking about extended and prolonged suspension of learning and development. What’s in store for the future? What’s the game plan here? Will syllabus be adjusted and adapted to a different medium for teaching?
Would syllabus be redistributed to ensure the total number of years of schooling remain the same?
Or are we looking at increasing the number of total schooling years? A disquieting moment of truth is that what does not grow, withers. Human capital is at risk of being eroded while we tap our fingers and wait for, not the kettle to boil, but for a special dispensation or the virus to go away. I can’t help but smile as I watched our digital school learning videos.
Covid-19 has brought us much inconvenience, but looking back, we have never paused. Instead, we kept trudging forward. We held onto each other and we kept moving forward. We have not stopped to tap our fingers while the Covid-19 kettle boils.
As time passes with each day, I see growth in the people around me. Our teachers, children and parents have all leveled up and adapted to our new norm. So, the virus may have thwarted the path we knew. Be nimble and be open to the new path it opens up. Continue to invest in your own human capital and that of our child.