schools warned

SCHOOLS WARNED TO BE AWARE OF GLOBAL CHANGES
Schools in richer countries must take account of major international developments such as changing climate and lifestyles, family structures, migration, ageing populations and the rise of Asia if they are to adequately prepare the next generation for the future, the Paris-based OECD says.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's "Trends Shaping Education" report suggests a raft of issues educationalists must consider in devising school systems that respond to the future.
These include economic issues that impact lifestyles, such as energy consumption, growing affluence, ageing populations, as well as the role of the welfare state, and changing values as we face globalisation and other challenges.
"We believe it is extremely important to have a long-term vision on education because it is shaping people who will be working in jobs in 20 years time," said Henno Theisens, one of the report's authors.
"If countries do not reflect on longer-term trends they will give children far less preparation for the world. Head teachers from most countries in the world should be able to understand major global. economic and societal trends, and make use of them in designing curricula."
The report suggests that the growing role of Asian countries might require changes in curricula, not just for language teaching such as the rise of Mandarin but also history, geography and other subjects.
"Education and training systems have traditionally been strong bastions of national decision-making, are they sufficiently sensitive to international developments?" the report asks.
Clear trends are already emerging that are changing, or have the potential to radically changes, the world as schoolchildren become adults.
For example, issues like global warming and migration to cities has implications for where new schools should be built.
Changes in social behaviour, including more working women, mean that schools will have to provide more "out of school" services and act as a "social anchor" for urbanising populations that experience isolation and exclusion in the city, Dr Theisens said.
The report asks if schools should be involved in changing behaviour that endangers the environment.
(Yojana Sharma)