ARTICLE

Redesigning
education

By: Sujata Keshavan

Aug 8th 2013

In the developed world, concerns around education are largely focused on quality how to improve upon what exists,
and how to best educate men and women to be ready for the challenges of the 21st century. Such ambitions are also
relevant in the developing world, where education systems are often broken, leaving institutions dysfunctional or in a
state of apathy.
But there are more pressing issues than those related to quality. Today, some 774 million people around the world are
totally illiterate; 66% are women. These are people on the margins, with no voice and no possibility of meaningful
employment. In India, for example, the literacy rate is 74%; the 26% who are illiterate comprise more than 312 million
people as many people living in the US. In South Sudan, only 16% of women are literate, and in Afghanistan 18%.
Despite the millions of illiterate individuals across the world, there are reasons to be optimistic.
First, more minds and resources than ever before are committed to achieving universal education, from policy-makers
and educators to the private sector. Second, population growth, together with a growing awareness about the benefits
of education, means that demand for education is high. Low-wage earners are no longer content to let their children
follow in their footsteps. Third, the Internet is transforming access to information and online learning courses are
revolutionizing distance learning, providing a paradigm-changing solution to localized problems such as a lack of
teachers and physical infrastructure.
Across the world, there is poor understanding of the role and the power of design to provide smart solutions that effect
change. Design is widely regarded as a lightweight input, focused on aesthetics. While good aesthetics are certainly
hardwired into good design, they are but one aspect of the total design solution. People understand that design can
provide better physical environments for teaching and learning. But, what about the role of design in fostering
innovation in education?
The design process shows you how to get to the crux of a problem. It raises questions about the assumptions that
have been made and challenges accepted practice. Designers study people those they are designing for and are
comfortable with new and changing technology. Working together with administrators, policy-makers and regulators,
designers can add great value to the innovation process.
One of the hurdles to delivering quality education on a large scale is the lack of adequately trained and motivated
teachers. There is great buzz around the use of technology in e-classrooms that makes the teacher less central to the
pedagogic process. However, in any sector, the ultimate value of a service to the user depends less on the means by
which it is delivered than on the quality of the content itself. Education is no different in this regard.
In India, for example, growing numbers of graduates are considered unemployable because they lack basic
communication and analytical skills. It is expensive and time-consuming for employers to bridge this skills gap. Yet, the
headmaster of a government school I spoke to recently said students and parents had rejected an experiment to
deliver Western-style, concept-driven education via an e-classroom. They demanded the more traditional learning by
rote method common to Asian countries.
Tensions like this can be eased through design. Carefully designed content using a variety of teaching approaches can
satisfy all parties, providing preparation for standardized exams together with the skills required for the world of work.
Combining on-line and off-line teaching, content can be designed to allow students to learn at different rates, as well as
to identify their strengths and weaknesses, helping guide their future careers. Design can help achieve this rapidly,
inexpensively and on a large scale.
Innovation promises to help advanced economies adapt their education systems for the fast changing business
environment. In the developing world, there are millions of people whose very lives could be transformed by innovation
in the design of education.
Author: Sujata Keshavan is Chairman and Founder of Ray+Keshavan, and a Member of the World Economic Forums
Global Agenda Council on Design & Innovation.
Image: A student is seen attending a class at a design school in South Korea REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji.