Resource Requirements and Educational Obsolescence

It is one of the most striking failings of our educational system that it seems to be unable to readjust its ways of doing things to meet changing requirements. Scientific progress and technological advances have altered the educational requirements of society. More trained people — people trained in the skills required by scientific and technological innovation — and a deepened capacity for scientific research, are widely recognized as prime requisites for economic progress. In response to these needs there has come to be an acceptance of the notion that educational systems are concerned not only with transmitting a cultural tradition and pushing forward the frontiers of knowledge, but also with producing the professional and technical ‘know-how’ required by a dynamic society. While we have historically regarded our working force and its skills as a concern separate from the structure and organization of education, more and more is there acceptance of the fact that the skills of the working force are a resource to be explored and developed through education. It has come to be accepted that if investment in education is to yield appropriate results then the primary and secondary schools and the universities must have a programme directed toward achieving the necessary work capacity and scientific research potential.