Throughout human history, important parts of education have remained such as reading, writing, and maths. With the advent of informational technologies, some people think that computer skills should be made a fourth critical skill to be added to the list. Nonetheless, I believe that the education system should focus on the timeless skills that are deeply bound to human nature, which include reading, writing, and maths, and have the skill of dealing with software as a separate, optional stream.
Firstly, computers have been evolving extremely rapidly through the last decades; therefore, even seemingly modern concepts and approaches become outdated very quickly. Whereas, the education system historically has plenty of bureaucracy and may just fall behind the quick pace of computer development.
On the other hand, there’s no doubt about the crucial role of computers in modern society. Mastering basic skills of working with software is vital for almost any occupation in today’s world, so it sounds reasonable to have it as a part of education. However, bringing it as an essential subject for everyone may put a significant economic burden on the students with limited access to modern devices. Besides, when it comes to computer skills, non-traditional specialized classes usually perform better due to their flexibility and aiming to stay up to date with the most recent trends.
To sum up, education can be most effective in teaching basic skills that are pillars of a culture. Keeping up with the fast-changing computer world would be a serious challenge, which is most effectively tackled by onboarding optional classes that constantly evolve and keep track of cutting-edge technologies.
