Why Basics of Project Management should be part of school’s curriculum

After working so many years as Project Manager, sometimes I wonder, Whether I would have managed my days in school, college or in my earlier life in a better way had I been taught basic principles of Project Management early in my life. And I find the answer a ‘yes’.   
Yes, I would have been and things would have been so much different in a positive way.

I have seen (especially in India) children are asked to do home works and work on several projects (Many of their assignments can be treated as project where they needed to produce something while working with others like teachers, parents or classmates),however, they are not taught anything about managing these projects. 

A larger part of Project Management is life skill and I find no reason why this should not be in the school’s curriculum as any other subject.

Whether or not children choose professional Project Management as their career path, however these skills can help them manage well many of the work they do in any profession of their choice and even several things in their personal lives. 

I have listed down few of many reasons why this should be part of school education:

1. Children will learn to work under constrains and manage resources well

They would learn that resources are not unlimited and any deviation to planned resources will impact the cost or quality or scope. These all are interdependent and children are needed to do a balancing act in order to achieve the project outcomes.

2. They will learn the importance of planning the work

This is something they can apply anywhere in their life. 

As Larry Elder has said ‘A goal without a plan is just a wish’. Project Management teaches a detail planning on any activity you have to do considering the outcome you want to achieve with the resources that you have.

3. This will impart Team skills and Leadership qualities

The ‘P’ in PM is as much about ‘People Management’ as it’s about ‘Project Management’ 
 – Cornelius Fichtner

They would understand the importance of working as a team and also that everyone in the team is crucial for success of project regardless of activities they have to perform in the project.

They will learn the true meaning of leadership where they needed to take whole team along and achieve the success. They will learn that key to successful leadership is influence and not authority.

4. They will learn that communication can be planned well and importance of good communication

Needless to say this is so important in any walk of life. The best thing about learning that communication can be planned (when, how, to whom, what, how much) depending on your audience.

5. Importance of Risk Identification and Mitigation

This is again a skill which can be used anywhere in any profession or in personal life.
However, knowing the methodologies to identify the risks and taking proactive measures to mitigate these makes the whole lot of difference.   

Also, for schools -  in order to include this as curriculum not needed to create any additional infrastructure. This can be the part of many activities children are already doing. They just needed to taught the concepts and to be planned and guided to apply them when they working on any school projects.

Here is a video where PMI worked with a school in UK to teach young students the Project Management techniques and students worked and presented their projects after training sessions are over.

Have a look to see the outcomes:

 

Project management is art to make things happen and don’t you want our kids to know the basics of this art?

Please hit the comment button and provide your feedback / suggestions or ask any questions you might have.