Translator: Mirjana Čutura Reviewer: Tanya Cushman
Let's start with a question.
What are schools preparing us for?
A job?
The future?
A future job?
Do we even know what they'll be?
And another question.
How are the same old exams preparing us for these future jobs?
Should students have the same multiple exams
to prove their value in the world?
Are these exam results still even valuable?
I'd like to share a well-known quote
by Richard Riley,
the former US Secretary of Education:
"We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist,
using technologies that haven't yet been invented
to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet."
Today, I'm here to talk to you
about why a focus on exams holds us back in our lives as learners.
And as we say here,
during what is being called the Fourth Industrial Revolution,
it's time to change this old-school model.
At the beginning of a new school year,
we are struck by elevated levels of hope and enthusiasm.
While the excitement is fantastic and inspirational,
sadly it fades as the year goes on.
Schools turn into pressure cookers towards the end of the year.
Exams are usually used to determine what job a person gets.
But as Richard Riley said,
we are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist.
So when these new jobs are introduced,
what are the same old exams going to do
except make the nervous breakdowns, panic attacks, burnouts, and depression
even more common than they already are?
Three highly successful people -
Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs -
had never been known for getting amazing grades in their exams.
And look where they are now.
This just comes to show
that exams don't indicate the future success of a person
or their value in the world.
So why are we conditioned to believe that they do?
It's time for a change.
Although examinations are prevalent in most countries over the world,
one country has been extremely progressive in their approach towards learning,
and they have eradicated exams from their education system.
"Which country is this?" you may ask.
Finland.
Finnish children start school at seven years,
and attendance is only compulsory for nine years.
Furthermore,
they've kept lessons short, homework minimal,
and standardized testing nonexistent
for its students.
I'm not sure if there are any Finnish people out there in the audience,
but I'm sure you turned out just great.
Ninety-three percent of Finnish students graduate from high school every year
as compared to the 75% of American students;
you can see the significant difference.
You have to admit,
there's something good going on up there in the Northern Hemisphere.
Why can't we bring it down?
I don't just want to stand up here
and say that exams are useless and we shouldn't have them.
I'd like to make a suggestion:
hybrid schooling,
schools that give us the option on how we direct our learning -
towards exam results or the future.
I'd like to learn about things like 3D-printing body parts,
artificial intelligence, nanotechnologies.
Where are these course options?
I'm not saying we should throw out exams completely,
but let's find a balance.
And it looks like someone agrees with me.
Just two days ago, this came up on BBC News.
Robert Halfon, the chairman of the Education Select Committee,
says that he wants to broaden students' curriculum
with vocational training and the traditional subjects.
I like the weather in Dubai, so I can't move to Finland.
But come on, educationists, be brave.
It's time for a new era that really prepares students for the future.
Thank you.
(Applause)