We need a pedagogy free from fear and focused on the magic of children's innate quest for information and understanding.
Sugata MitraRead
Go to a job interview and tell and employer that you can recite the 17 times table; they don't care. Why are we still teaching it?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques traditional educational practices that emphasize rote memorization over practical skills.
Sugata Mitra questions the relevance of teaching certain knowledge, like multiplication tables, that may not serve a real purpose in the modern job market. By citing the example of reciting the 17 times table in a job interview, he highlights how educational systems often focus on memorization instead of fostering critical thinking and applicable skills that employers truly value.
Themes
EducationLearningSkillsCritical ThinkingJob Market
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about modern education methods, you could use this quote to highlight the need for a curriculum focused on practical skills.
More from Sugata Mitra
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The Indian education system, like the Indian bureaucratic system, is Victorian and still in the 19th century. Our schools are still designed to produce clerks for an empire that does not exist anymore.
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In nine months, a group of children left alone with a computer - in any language - would reach the same standard as an office secretary in the West.
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If children have interest, then Education happens
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I was inspired by the Hole in the Wall project, where a computer with an internet connection was put in a Delhi slum. When the slum was revisited after a month, the children of that slum had learned how to use the worldwide web.
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