Reevaluating the Purpose of Education:
A Response to the Recent Debate Loss
By Mostafa A. S. Rosheed
Introduction: Education is not merely a transaction between a provider and a customer; it is a transformative process that shapes minds, builds skills, and fosters critical thinking. In the recent debate, our team was not quite successful to fully embrace this essence, as our approach relied heavily on lectures and grading rather than holistic assessment and student engagement. Meanwhile, other teams might successfully argued for a model that integrates motivation, rewards, and meaningful evaluation.
Approach Issues: Our team focused on delivering information and assigning grades, assuming that knowledge dissemination alone was sufficient. However, this method disregarded a crucial aspect of learning: motivation. Students were left without the necessary incentives—be it rewards for excellence or consequences for underperformance—to actively engage with their education. As a result, they attended lectures passively, expecting to pass without putting in the effort.
Policy Flaws: The current policy of “satisfying customers” at the expense of genuine education is deeply flawed. Treating students as customers and prioritizing their short-term satisfaction—by making courses easier or lowering assessment standards—undermines the very purpose of higher education. Real education should challenge students, push their limits, and prepare them for the demands of the real world. By bypassing dissatisfaction for administrative convenience, the department risks producing graduates who lack the critical thinking, discipline, and problem-solving skills that true education should cultivate.
Why Motivation Matters: The other teams understood the psychological and pedagogical importance of motivation in education. Effective learning environments balance intrinsic motivation (curiosity, passion for knowledge) with extrinsic motivation (grades, recognition, and consequences for failure). Without this balance, students disengage, leading to lower overall academic performance and diminished long-term success.
Moving Forward: A Call for Reform: To rectify this issue, our educational approach must shift toward meaningful assessment and motivation strategies. This includes:
Implementing assessments that encourage active learning rather than passive attendance.
Creating a structured reward-and-consequence system that ensures students take responsibility for their education.
Recognizing that dissatisfaction is sometimes necessary for growth and improvement rather than something to be avoided at all costs.
Conclusion: The debate loss was a learning experience that highlighted a critical flaw in our current education system. If we continue down the path of mere customer satisfaction without real educational rigor, we will fail our students in the long run. Education must be about developing capable individuals, not just ensuring short-term satisfaction. The challenge now is to advocate for policies that restore the integrity of education while keeping students engaged and motivated.
