80% of primary level children will end up in a job that doesn’t exist today. What skills your child will need for future jobs?
If your child is in primary level, by the time she/he graduates and enter into a job, it will be after the year 2030. With all the technology at our disposal, we have absolutely no idea how the world will look like even in 5 years time. As parents, you are spending a lot of time and money by sending them to the best schools, to the best coaching centers or private tutors thinking that if they do good in schools they will get into a better job or will have financial security in the future. But unfortunately, academic result alone can’t secure a job in the future for your child.
This is 2019, and LinkedIn published a list of most sought skills by employers. And on top of that list is creativity, problem-solving and emotional intelligence. Now imagine what will happen after 2030. Our schools and our education system don’t prepare our children to be ‘future ready’ and to have the ‘future skills’.
We are working on this issue for the last 5 years and identified the 5 Most Important Skills that children will need when they become an adult and look for a job or go into entrepreneurship.
Here is a list of the 5 Most Important Skills:
1. Creativity:
Well, since most of the jobs will be taken away by AI, robot, machines (don’t laugh; that’s going to be the reality), your children need to be highly creative to be relevant in the job market in future. In India, about 70% of the jobs will be replaced for automation and technological advancement by the next 30 years. Bangladesh will face similar problems. The problems will be more complex people needs to solve. Without a creative mind, your child can’t do that. Unfortunately, our current schooling system doesn’t encourage creativity and making mistakes. Unless we allow our children to fail, to make mistakes how we can expect that will come up with something original?
2. Complex Problem Solving:
Huge systems, connected global web, software-hardware integration, big data, human behavior mapping are some current or future trends in technology and also in the job market. The more integrated the system is, the skills required to solve complex problems are going to be more ‘hot cake’. Train your children from an early age to become a problem solver. Use puzzle, LEGO, imagination game, DIY games to improve both creativity and problem-solving skills in your children.
3. Love and Skill of Learning:
Anyone can learn anything from anywhere nowadays. What’s needed is the love of learning and the skill of learning things faster and in more effective ways. With advancement in technology, your knowledge on certain things are getting obsolete day by day – simply because they are just a ‘click away’ from you. Make sure that your children become ‘lifelong learners’ and love the learning process. Only through ‘love of learning’ children can be multidisciplinary in future. The doctors may need to learn some engineering, the engineers may need to learn to design.
4. Emotional Intelligence:
Here is the meaning of ’emotional intelligence’ for those who are thinking of Googling it. It’s the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships with empathy. In short, children need to be highly intelligent in terms of communication, interpersonal relationship, empathy in a future connected world. It will be no surprise that people are working for red truck fire safety company from a remote location in Africa or Asia. But they need to be aware of the culture, religion and other social contexts to develop any solution for people living in other countries.
5. Moral Values and Ethics:
Although people may argue that moral values or ethics is not a skill, we consider this as a fundamental skill that every human being should have. In real life, we face moral dilemma and situations where our ethics are being tested. In future, the line between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ is going to be more blur. Our children need to have a strong foundation and good understanding of values and ethics. Otherwise, they will face huge challenges in their professional lives and also in their personal lives.
