Quo Vadis for Education: Where are systems going?

Education will always be there.

---Pragmatism rules over Education.

---It does not mind how fancy the education at school has become, at the end of the day vegetables and fruits need to come from trees to feed the empty stomachs.

---Some has to walk away from Education systems to follow the applicational rules to sow plant and reap.

---Whether everything is done by a computer or not, there are billions of stomachs waiting.

---In the Middle Ages a boy of 7 was sent to a Latin School to learn Latin and Greek and sometimes also Hebrew.

---Some of them graduated with a BA from university as early as the age of 17! A doctoral degree before 23 or 25 and started a career as professor at 25.

---Fluent in Latin, German/English/French, Greek, Hebrew.

---No computers to help them.

---They wrote the dictionaries that we are using today.

---Now where was I at the age of 7? First grade Elementary School or standard one.

---After Standard five we went to the Middle School with many subjects and after two years selected only six majors and went deep into them until the end of High School.

---Instead of Maths, I chose Bible. I chose German. Two more languages were mandatory for all anyway, mother-tongue and English, if English is not your language or Afrikaans, if it is not your language.

---This it was until recently.

---Recently I noticed as a University Professor that there are elements of erosion in Education showing up.

---I am not talking of religious education. Not yet.

---I am talking about secular education.

---Keep in mind that the word secular has changed in all countries. The fusion of secular and religious led to a Secular Theology at the Universities.

---It is good for students to learn how to drink because the culture in the country has a long drinking culture. Bla. But that is what was said.

---Then came the strange subject of Fusion Technology.

---At first I thought it is smart because it is teaching some scholars to be a “jack-of-all-trades” which is kind of the education I myself got at our manual labor college where we were educated in Africa.

---Manual Labor? Yes. Each student, rich or poor was required to work 10 manual labor hours “because it is good for character building”. It was. Believe me.

---5 hours on Sunday from 8-12h30. Some time for shower before lunch.

---Where and who came. The president of the university was waiting for his team of students to come at 8 to lay curbstones on a new road he was building from the entrance.

---He stood there in his building clothes and was physically laying curbstone for curbstone himself!

---I have a photo of him and me on a roof building the roof for the remodeled Admin without shirts both of us!

---Manual physical labor. You are selected by computer. And you must be there. Period.

---What if you are not? Punishment system. You get extra hours to work during the week when others are off.

---So BMW students who’s fathers build them a large house outside the gate because he is a mayor of another town, was standing in shorts and t-shirt laying curbstones.

---Character building. With sweat. Good combination. Try it.

---But then there came an Educational policy in the country that the student is king and the teacher is slave.

---What do I mean by this?

---Simply that the student choose his teacher and those teachers not chosen is “dumped” next year by the school. Send home permanently. Fired?

---This led to serious stress among the teachers. They did not know from semester to semester what their future is going to be.

---That system was still fine. But now they are bringing that nonsense into private schools and it is here that the egg hits the fan.

---It is then no longer just students are free to select the teacher they like, it is now that students from one department does not have to stay studying just in that department, they can go to any department to study.

---Eclecticism in Education.

---Educational nomadism. 

---“Jack-of-all-trades-but-Master-of-none”. This is the ball-game.

---And this is where Education is leading to.

---Empty heads. Touch and go Education.

---Here a little, there a little, big show but empty shell. Correct?

---I thought the chaos will end there and that makes it easy.

---Not so. Now students may interfere what the content of the syllabus should be.

---So traditional requirements like Hebrew 1 before Hebrew 2 before Hebrew 3 before a Masters in Hebrew is exchanged for a little here and a little there.

---Greek is even taught no longer like we had to with Grammar and Dictionary every day and night until final exam. No, hardly any Grammar or Dictionary and just in English everything!

---Why? Because in the class is a fusion student who choose eclectically only this course in the Department but lack ability in Greek!

---Who suffers? Everyone.

---The teacher has to write a new Guide or Book for Instruction.

---But, says the teachers, if we do not do it, the Department will have no students and who is going to pay my BMW and my expensive apartment? No, they did not say the part about the cars and houses but they did say it.

---Welcome to Education 2023 on earth…if you are from Mars.

---So everyone is AI robot everywhere now as if it is the Educational solution for the future.

---Can we sit down and reflect before we go further?

---Human is human whether it is Adam in 4316 BC or myself in 2023.

---Sin is sin in those day and it is sin in our days.

---Yes but wrong is people designed, says the AI robot. Wrong. The Law of God is divine and given from heaven not from below or from the earth.

---Thus the TI is bigger than the AI. Theological Intelligence is bigger than the Artificial Intelligence. No joke. Really.

---God only permits us to enter this digi-modernism for the universe to see that humans remain sinful and conversions still takes place the same way. AI will not improve them any bit.

---The plan and process of salvation is the same before the AI robot time and during the AI robot time. No difference.

---Illusion, dreaming, imagining, irrealis are the words that one has to give as products of this kind of Fusion Education dished up by governments to their country-people.

---So where is the Latin, Greek and Hebrew between 7-10 years old? Where is the dictionaries and grammars written by humans.

---Zombis. That is what everyone is heading to.

---Sleepwalking. Knowing nothing. Need to know nothing. Just flash-flash from one photo to another of the likes and beauties around.

---Chaotic cognitive emptiness.

---Paul says that he could see the End-times we are living in. I think he did.

---Lawlessness, chaos, lovers of self more than lovers of God.

---What about our religious schools?

---They run or ran after the world ideas. Result? Parent did not or do not want to send their children to these schools that are now also secular.

---Result? There are no Adventist students in our Adventist Schools.

---Where is the Adventist future?

---Outside of these schools.

---So Adventist teachers are teaching non-Adventist students with a strong non-Adventist Parents-and-Teachers’ Association.

---What a lost of Vision and a lost of Mission!

---So how to regain?

---Convert. Teachers must be on their knees asking help from God.

---Then stand up and change the fees policy of the schools.

---If students come from houses that are not Adventists, they will be paying 200%.

---Adventists parents children will pay only 30% because they have been paying tithe the rest of their lives and it was the tithes that helped setting up the schools and building them.

---Because the Adventist parent is tapped into Adventist tithe and offerings systems for decades, therefore they are almost “owners” of these schools. Correct?

---Thanks. More Adventists’ children will come. I can assure you.

---Secondly, these parents attending the meetings have a Value Added Vote. A VAV.

---It means that the parent’s vote at these meetings count for 4 not for 1 only like non-Adventist parents. Why? They paid tithe for decades and also offerings and helped building the schools. Is that fair? Correct.

---What if they drop out of school about these policies?

---Bye. We talking about a proper Future in Education. Are we not?

---Now we can begin to roll back where past leaders have mistaken. We can fix the errors and bring tranquility in our Vision and Mission. Correct?

---Do we need to bring tranquility in our Vision and Mission?

---Are we committed to bring that tranquility in our Vision and Mission?

---Then get back to manual labor. Roll up the sleeves and start working. Correct?

---Back to the Future!