The education sector is the foundation of any country’s economy. A country, which does not have its education system in place, will always lag in other sectors as well.
However, there has been a paradigm shift in the education sector in the last one year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Lockdown changed the perspective of the whole education system. Institutes and teachers have been forced forego the traditional way of classroom and adapt to e-learning. Teachers followed the new trend, hoping to return to the classrooms soon. But the transition from traditional classrooms to e-learning mode has not been easy for many.
Even as institutes are opening up, most are expected to operate with reduced classroom strength as well as fewer teachers. It means the scope for classroom education will remain curtailed and e-learning has to fill the gap in the education sector. And lest we forget, new technologies always add a competitive edge to any sector.
Read on to know more about the challenges emerging in the education system and how to overcome them.
The Challenges
The education system is often crippled by many age-old problems even as new ones continue to emerge. Here we list a few of them.
- Rote learning process: Students in often compelled and even encouraged to rote learn in order to score high marks. Unfortunately, the system does not focus on strengthening and clearing the concepts.
- Poor teacher-student ratio: A single teacher is seen handling a bunch of students in a class. This results in less focus on each child. Additionally, students are not encouraged to ask questions or clarify their doubts.
- No training: No or very little emphasis is given to teacher training in the education system. Thus, teachers are not always aware of the new developments in the field of education.
- No emphasis on creativity: Our education system focuses on quantity rather than quality. Conceptual understanding or developing critical and creative thinking is not always encouraged.
- The digital divide: This is a rather new challenge posing before the education system. In developing countries like India, there is a huge digital divide in urban and rural schools. Several surveys have revealed that a huge percentage of students were impacted due to the lockdown as they found hard to study online or needed hand holding to shift from offline to online mode.
The role of education consultants
As we discussed above, the education system is plagued by several challenges including disproportionate student teacher ratio and lack of quality training among teachers. Here in comes the education consultant who in other words can be called academic advisors. Education consultants provide guidance to a school’s teaching faculty on curriculum, teaching styles and recommended resources and textbooks. They may also recommend strategies to help improve a school’s rankings and academic standards.
Education consultants are not the expert on your clients’ challenges. But they are experts on the processes to solve them. They focus on creating innovative and sustainable change by encouraging collaboration and alignment among stakeholders. The responsibilities of an education consultant include analyzing existing curricula, admin processes, teaching resources and methods, and working with staff to improve upon them.
Educationconsultants wear many hats: facilitator, thought partner, product deliverer, advisor, and sometimes all four at the same time.
Summing up
As we thrive to overcome the emerging challenges, we need to look at the education sector as no different from other sectors that need constant improvement. Educational consultants fill advisory roles in institutes. They work alongside teachers and students, implementing changes to create optimal learning environments. If merit-based teacher selection, output-oriented study and concept clarity of students are treated as important factors, the role of education consultants is undeniable.