Effective Approach to Education by Last Bench!
An education system that isn’t working
The importance given to knowledge post the industrial revolution has been paramount and has spurned the education industry around it to provide useful resources back to the industry. But over the time span of 200 years, it seems like the motive is lost. The recognition that one has undergone a certain type of education is more important than the education itself.
A famous statistic, stating that only about 20% of Indian engineers are employable, resonates with most of India’s corporate industry. The effort spent in passing exams, the original purpose of education, which is understand the subjects and putting it to use is lost.
Thoughtless no more!
Last Bench! is an educational initiative taken up by Rajeev Chhajer and Sajid Chougle.
It explores alternate, holistic and more effective approaches to traditional learning and promotes self-reflection, self-evaluation and sharing of ideas to provide a different perspective on education as a whole.
Targeting areas of concern
There are many social, economic and infrastructural reasons as to why this system isn’t working. But the problem is more fundamental than that. The current state of graduates in this country is a symptom of issues which are not being addressed in the current education system. Last Bench, through its research has identified the some key areas of concern. These are –
1) Learning is not put into perspective – Most students don’t know why they’re learning something.
2) Application of knowledge is not given importance – Graduates come off with bookish knowledge without knowing how to apply it in practice
3) Lack of self-reflection and self-evaluation – The education system makes students live up to other people’s expectations rather than teaching them to satisfy their own
4) Sharing of ideas is not encouraged – The element of individuality in understanding a subject has been the driver for innovation. This isn’t shared.
5) Lack of addressing learning needs – A one size fits all approach to education doesn’t work especially in higher studies. Learning can be a lot more effective if the experience of a person is taken into account.
Essentially business
Last Bench has a learning program for management which is currently aimed at students, working professionals and corporates. Aptly named as “essentially business”, the learning model caters for everyone’s needs. Focusing on the basics of the management, it offers the following modules -
1) Management
2) Accounting
3) Finance
4) Marketing
Their teaching delivery model is personal and it aims to do more than just empower people from various backgrounds with key management skills. Through psychometric evaluation, the program also aims to make its students more aware of themselves. Through self-evaluation and self-reflection, the course hopes to encourage people to learn and work in relevance to their psychological framework.
Online medium is the way forward
Last Bench! has quickly identified the power of the online medium of training delivery and looks to migrate its offline version on its
online learning suite. The online reduces the cost of delivery of education, while keeping the quality of the lesson unaltered.
Through the promo’s at their website Last Bench! it is evident that they have leveraged the animation aspect of technology to ensure effective learning through visual impact. Furthermore, Last Bench! aims to expand to more subjects and approach it through their highly effective methodology.
Find out more about them here