Educating problem-solvers

During the last six months, I’ve had the opportunity to teach a course titled ‘Introduction to Public Problem Solving’ in several different learning institutions. In one case, at the Kautilya School of Public Policy in Hyderabad, I taught a full-semester course, but in the other cases, the teaching was in short modules. I’ve been reflecting on these experiences, and some conversations with others in public policy teaching institutions.

A number of colleges now offer public policy courses. Does this represent a surge in interest among the public in the problems of society and economy? Is it an emerging learning choice for those who’re thinking ahead to their career prospects? Are there other reasons driving this trend?

One way to know is to ask the students themselves. I’ve been doing this quite regularly. And from exchanges with at least 200 young people, one thread stands out. When students in these courses are asked why they’ve chosen them, invariably they say that using the learning they get from the course, they hope to go on to solve some public problems.

Also Read | America’s educational superpower is fading

That’s really good, because it signals that young people are keen to see themselves contributing to the solutions the nation needs. If policy education has opened the door for people to think this about themselves, that’s a good beginning for the sector. But there is something else to consider. A policy education is useful preparation. Using it, one can understand complex public problems. But it won’t naturally lead to a problem-solving mindset or capability. That has to be developed separately.

Problem-solving is a separate skill, and it should be taught alongside the policy education. In fact, given the motivation of the students, the policy courses should be explicitly focusing on turning the students into problem-solving people. Without that focus, students may enroll in programmes thinking they’re going to impact public outcomes, but more often than not they’re going to find themselves in corporate lobbying jobs. That is a legitimate career, but it’s way down the ladder when it comes to respectability.

Also Read | All Andhra Pradesh school text books now available in PDF format

One new draw for policy education is that state and national governments are creating Fellowships for young people in different departments. These are typically short-term assignments, billed as an opportunity to work closely with administrators and get first-hand experience of how government works. LinkedIn is full of people who’ve been ‘Chief Minister’s Fellow’, and their resumes proudly list their work in government.

There are two caveats to keep in mind about this trend. There is a big difference between working ‘in’ government, and working ‘for’ the government. The fellowships we see now are more good-looking than good. Departments are unsure whether this is a way to overcome their staffing failures, or if these should be presented to the Fellows as prestigious stints that they should be glad to get.

Amidst this tension, quite often, the Fellows end up assisting governments in doing the wrong things. National and state governments often interfere in the governance of cities, for example, and Fellows who work in programmes that do that may see themselves as contributing to governance while in fact doing the opposite.

Development is a balance between State, market and society. And for problem-solvers to be effective, they need to be able to retain the ability to act on all three fronts. Too many people in ‘institutional’ roles have given up the ability to act as citizens and hold government accountable. In our desire to work ‘with’ governments and build capacity, we can’t forget that they work ‘for’ us. Many of the short-term positions are not set up to respect this right.

On the positive side for policy education, many students also sense that these courses are good alternatives to an MBA, and that employers will value them the same way. Actually, I’d say that good employers would value policy graduates even more than business graduates. Policy education, especially if it also includes a problem-solving focus, would create graduates who are more knowledgeable about society and State, too, not just markets, and be able to contribute better to a lot of firms.

One of the things I’ve held close for years is a belief that rather than trying to solve problems, we should be trying to increase the number of problem-solving people in society. It’s heartening to see more and more young people seeing themselves as problem-solvers, and making learning and career choices in line with that. We need a groundswell of such thinking to tackle the very large and persistent problems around us.