Future readiness in education

Dr. Praseedha Sreekumar, Principal, Indus Altum International School, Belagavi

Sea squirts are amazing water creatures. They are free-swimming organisms, exploring the environment around them. After a while, they find rocks and settle down there for their entire lifetime. And what do they do for food? They eat their brain. Interesting! If we are not going to move around, then why do we need a brain? Makes sense.

Now take the case of an eagle. It is believed that eagles have a peculiar habit, though some claim that it is fictional, but yes, apt to consider for our discussion. Once they feel that they are going weak on their wings, they go to a secluded place cut off from the rest of the eagle community and go through a painful and bloody process of plucking their wings and talons. They allow the new ones to grow for another one or two months. Why do they go through this painful process? Because they know that once they regain their new wings and talons, they would be able to fly higher and perform better than before.

What do we want our younger generation to be?

A sea squirt who stops moving ahead and eats its brain or the mythical eagle who undergoes a painful transformation in pursuit of excellence. I am sure our answer would be an eagle.

Last week I stumbled upon something very interesting while skimming through the newspaper. It was an advertisement given by one of the most famous and reputed universities in India. It went like this: ‘Has been ranked among the top universities globally for producing the most EMPLOYABLE GRADUATES’. Now the use of the expression ‘Employable Graduates’ caught my attention. Does that mean, we also have ‘unemployable graduates? What is this pointing to? To a skill-based, competency-based education system in schools? And the big question is – Are our schools preparing our students for the future?

We are at a VUCA plus world – Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous. Everything is getting changed and that too at a huge pace and acceleration. Not just referring to the COVID era. Even before that and after that, the world was in VUCA and would be in VUCA. A world that changes very fast and quickly. Everything is temporary now and the only constant is CHANGE. Interestingly, if we are preparing our younger generation for jobs that are not created yet, then what are we preparing them for?

So that means we are preparing our generation for something that is uncertain and which doesn’t exist. So future readiness is not preparing for a job, university, career, or an exam, It is all about getting prepared for life itself and the uncertainties of the future.

Point 1- Preparing students for an AI-enabled world.

John Baruch, the Head of Cybernetics at Bradford University-UK, talks about something alarming and scary in one of his Ted Talks. The world is going to change drastically in the next 20 years and most of these changes would be driven by technology and sciences. There is a possibility that in the next 20 years doctors, lawyers, accountants, surgeons, warehouse manpower, vehicle drivers, and call center employees would largely be replaced by Robots. This reminds me of yet another newspaper article that caught my attention lately- It says: ‘New Normal triggers the rise of machines in our households’. To further elaborate -The recent lockdown has led to a sudden rise in demand for AI-enabled dishwashers, robot cleaners, and other hi-tech cleaning gadgets from Indian families. I mean even if we choose to stay at home, AI-enabled robots are not going to leave us. That means 50 percent of the current jobs would disappear. So, where would the new jobs and career opportunities come from? They would come from Science and Technology- to be exact -Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, and Virtual reality. And we see the wave already. Covid 19 has made it more explicit for us.

The reality is we are awaiting a digital transformation.

Then what is that we need to prepare our students for? If the schools are preparing students for what was relevant yesterday and skills which were applicable yesterday, it is a crime. If the schools are preparing students for skills that machines can do in another 15-20 years, it is a crime.

Now point 2- Preparing students for what AI or machine cannot.

That is ‘Creativity and Innovation’ directly making a connect to the life entrepreneurial competencies which allow them to be startup ready just not in the business sense but from the point of view of life itself. How to think like a designer in critical situations is one of the predominant aspects in making them future-ready. Because ‘thinking’ is something that only human beings can do.

Preparing students for the 21st century is not just about preparing them for technology. It is all about bringing out their creativity, instilling in them the courage for problem-solving and decision-making, and much more. So it is all about Holistic Education, being ready for the unseen future, Lifelong learning, and Entrepreneurship.

Point 3- Preparing students for Head, Mind, Heart, and the Soul -Holistic Education.

What is holistic education? Holistic education is taking care of the physical, emotional, spiritual & ethical aspects of a child’s development. Being holistic is developing the common sense to apply the learned concepts in real-life situations.

In short, future readiness in education equates to preparing students.