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RISHI MAHARAJ

On March 13, 2020 the Prime Minister announced in Parliament that effective immediately all places of learning inclusive of schools and universities will remain closed for one week, in the first instance, in order to slow the potential spread of covid19.
Since then, my two daughters, ages eight and six, have not physically attended school. What followed since was an initial sense on uncertainty as to how the curriculum would be delivered to various methods of delivery, from WhatsApp class groups to physically collecting work from school to finally this term, online Zoom classes.
These uncertainties and the recent National Consultation on Transforming Education, hosted by the Ministry of Education, had me wondering what type of world of work would my daughters be going into within the next decade and whether our current education system was equipping them with the skills necessary to not only survive but also be successful in that world.
How we work and the type of jobs that would be available within the next decade are rapidly changing. It has been estimated that by 2025, many professional jobs will be, at least partially, lost to robotisation and automation. McKinsey Consulting claims that technological skills will experience the most growth and demand, including both basic digital skills and more advanced technological skills. Demand for higher cognitive skills, social, and emotional skills are also expected to rise.
The lifespan of skills is also shortening. According to Deloitte, the half-life of a skill is currently five years which means throughout a 30-year career, my daughters would have to update and refresh their skills six times. Further, the World Economic Forum noted that 65 per cent of children entering elementary school today are being trained for jobs that may not exist when they reach the age of employability.
In the preface to the 2011 revised edition of his book Out of Our Minds, Sir Ken Robinson observes that "the more complex the world becomes, the more creative we need to be to meet its challenges." This is becoming increasingly clear in education and the workplace. People now need to be creative to be successful, but while the idea of success has changed, the education system has not always adjusted its methods or goals to meet it.
A 20th century education emphasised compliance and conformity over creativity, two skills that were necessary to do well in a professional or corporate environment and to hold down a good job for decades. Compliance and conformity are now relics, but they are still key values in many schools, informing policy even when not being expressly promoted to students.
While traditional academic skills are important, Paul Ramchandani at the University of Cambridge notes that we’ve also seen the role that playful, creative, and engaging experiences have in helping children cope in unpredictable and rapidly changing situations. Creativity and a child’s ability to be resilient despite life’s unpredictable challenges will be among the most in-demand skills that today’s learners need in a rapidly changing world. Research tells us that cognitive, creative, social, emotional and physical skills, when integrated with traditional academic skills, help develop students who can better navigate this complex world.
The coalition P21 (Partnership for 21st Century Learning) has identified four "Skills for Today":

· Creativity

· Critical thinking

· Communication

· Collaboration

These four themes are not to be understood as units or even subjects, but as themes that should be overlaid across all curriculum mapping and strategic planning. They should be part of every lesson in the same way as literacy and numeracy.
Creativity is about thinking through information in new ways, making new connections and coming up with innovative solutions to problems. Critical thinking is about analysing information and critiquing claims. Communication is understanding things well enough to share them clearly with other people. Collaboration is about teamwork and the collective genius of a group that is more than the sum of its parts.
There are other skills that are important, which fall within these four areas. Entrepreneurship can be considered a skill of its own. Inquiry and problem solving are key. Emotional intelligence is one of the most important keys to successful work and relationships.
The importance of our education system in achieving positive economic and social outcomes cannot be overstated. Yet a system designed for the industrial era struggles to meet the needs of students in the 21st century. Transformation is overdue.
While many may argue that our "old school" approach and methodology is in many respects good, it must be acknowledged that a transformed "new school" approach will provide a better equipped, more dynamic training ground for our next generation of workers, entrepreneurs and leaders, and the future citizens needed to drive our businesses, our economy and our society forward.

Rishi Maharaj is the executive director of the Equigov Institute.
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