Most people sense it long before they can explain it:
The school system no longer fits the world we are asking young people to enter.

Students leave school with certificates, but little confidence.
Graduates leave university with degrees, but few practical pathways.
Employers complain about skills gaps.
Governments respond with slogans.
And the cycle repeats itself.

This is not a failure of teachers.
It is not a failure of students.
It is a Design Failure.

The modern school system was built for a different world, and we are still asking it to solve problems it was never designed for.

A System Designed for Standardisation

Much of today’s schooling architecture took shape during the Industrial Revolution and the expansion of mass public education. Its logic made sense at the time:

• Age-Grouped Classrooms
• Fixed Timetables and Bells
• Standardized Curricula
• Uniform Assessments
• Obedience, Punctuality, Repetition

The goal was not Creativity or Systems Thinking.
The goal was Predictability.

That model produced literate, compliant workers for Factories, Bureaucracies, and Administrative Systems. It worked, for that era.

But the world has moved on.

The system hasn’t.

What the World Now Demands

Today’s economy does not reward compliance.
It rewards judgment.

Modern societies require people who can:

• Think critically under uncertainty
• Solve unfamiliar problems
• Adapt to technology that didn’t exist 5 years ago
• Work across cultures and disciplines
• Understand systems, not just tasks
• Learn continuously, not episodically

These are not “Soft Skills.”
They are Survival Skills.

Yet most school systems still prioritize:

• Memorization over Understanding
• Individual Performance over Collaboration
• Speed over Depth
• Right Answers over Good Questions

We measure what is easy to test, not what is essential to build.

Assessment Is the Quiet Saboteur

Exams reward Recall.
Real life rewards Synthesis.

In School, Success often Means:

• Repeating Information Accurately
• Following Instructions Precisely
• Minimizing Mistakes

In Real Work, Success Means:

• Making Decisions with Incomplete Data
• Iterating after Failure
• Communicating Trade-Offs
• Balancing Technical, Human, and Ethical Constraints

A system that only measures recall will produce people who struggle when memory is no longer enough.

Degrees, Certificates, and the Illusion of Capability

Globally, we have expanded access to education.
What we have not expanded is conversion.

Many countries now produce more graduates than ever, and still face:

• High Youth Unemployment
• Shortages of Artisans and Engineers
• Weak Science and Numeracy Foundations
• Misalignment Between Education and Industry

This Creates a Dangerous Illusion:
People believe they are “Educated,” but the system has not equipped them to operate effectively in the real economy.

Education becomes symbolic instead of functional.

This Is a Global Problem, With Local Consequences

This issue is not confined to Africa, Europe, or North America.
It is global.

But its consequences are harsher in countries where:

• Unemployment is already high
• Industries are still developing
• Social safety nets are thin
• Economic mobility is limited

When education fails in these contexts, the cost is not inconvenience, it is lost generations.

Teachers Are Not the Problem

This must be said clearly.

Teachers work inside the system.
They did not designed it.

Many are under-resourced, over-regulated, and expected to deliver outcomes without the authority or tools to redesign how learning happens.

Blaming Teachers is Lazy.
Redesigning the System is Leadership.

Education Is National Infrastructure

Countries invest heavily in:

• Roads
• Ports
• Power and…
• Defense

Because they understand one thing:
– Infrastructure enables capability.

Education is no different.

If we accept that:

• Skills Gaps will Threaten our Economic Stability
• Scientific Illiteracy will Undermines Innovation
• Weak Critical Thinking will Weakens Democracy

With that being said, that means education is not a social issue alone.
It is a National Capability Issue.

And capability requires Research, not Rhetoric.

What Should Change: A Practical Roadmap

If we are serious about reform, I believe, several shifts must happen.

1. Fund Education Research like Strategic Infrastructure

Governments fund security research because they understand risk.
They must fund education research because skills gaps are also risk.

This means:

• Piloting new learning models
• Measuring long-term outcomes, not exam results
• Testing curriculum designs the way engineers test systems

No Ideology. Just Evidence.

2. Redesign Curriculum around Capability

Curricula must prioritize:

• Problem-Solving
• Applied Science and Mathematics
• Systems Thinking
• Digital Literacy and AI Fluency
• Financial and Civic Literacy

Knowledge should be a Tool, not a Trophy.

3. Rethink Assessment

Assessment should test:

• Reasoning
• Collaboration
• Iteration
• Decision-Making and…
• Communication

Less “what do you remember?”
More “what can you do with what you know?”

4. Integrate Education and Industry

Education cannot exist in isolation.

Industry partnerships should:

• Inform curriculum design
• Provide real project exposure
• Support vocational and technical pathways
• Dignify trade skills alongside academic ones

Capability is built through application.

5. Treat Schools as Learning Laboratories

I am not saying that every school must change at once.

We can start with:

• Pilot institutions
• Controlled experiments
• Clear metrics
• Transparent evaluation

Scale what works. Abandon what doesn’t.

Final Thought

We do not have an Education Crisis.
We have a Design Crisis.

The world has changed faster than the systems meant to prepare people for it. 

• That is not a moral failure, but ignoring it is. 

Education should not prepare students for the past.
It should prepare them to navigate the unknown.

Until we redesign schooling with that purpose in mind, we will keep producing graduates who did everything right, and still feel unprepared.

Leadership is not defending old systems.
Leadership is knowing when systems have outlived their usefulness, and having the courage to redesign them.

Please note:
I don’t think for one second that my account is a definitive account.
I offer it no more than an opening round in a conversation that I hope

End