We don’t know what the labour market will look like in five, ten, or fifteen years and what specialisations will be needed. How should education deal with this challenge?
It is likely that 70% of the children who started school in September will be working in occupations that do not exist today. We need to think about what education for the future should be. I feel most comfortable describing non-public higher education. Training and education for the future should be practical. It is not the case, as has been advocated in recent years, that schools and universities are supposed to respond to the challenges of the labour market. The labour market is so dynamic, processes are occurring so quickly, new professions are being created, that we would not be able to keep up with preparing specialists in a few years of study.
It is indeed a challenge to properly prepare young people graduating from universities so that they have the competences needed in the labour market. So how to go about it?
We have to start taking education seriously and with a vision that it is education for the future. When we design undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, this should be processed in collaboration with employers. It is fundamental for the studies to be in relevant to what is happening on the market.
Programmes need to be created. They don’t have to be innovative courses; it could be psychology, management, law – in consultation with employers, who will point out possible changes that result from them practising the profession. There is a need to create an offer of practical training in cooperation with companies.
And how to go about teaching it?
Teaching should be based on three principles. First of all, the students should be conscious of the fact that they are a persons, human beings. What they do in their professional life is determined by their character. For them to know their strengths and weaknesses, they need to be taught soft skills, assertiveness, openness to other people and teamwork, including the right mindset and attitude to problem solving. We should teach innovation, creativity, and disruptive thinking. In addition, students should be taught how to seek knowledge because we need to be open to knowledge. We live in a nanosecond culture, so when we don’t have the right knowledge, we should be willing to acquire it.
