This post is a summary of a book with the complete title of, " Education and Skills 2.0: New Targets and Innovative Approaches. Published in January 2014, at
Yet the reality is that despite impressive progress made in educational systems recently, especially with respect to primary enrolment, enormous challenges remain. This timely book provides an up-to-date statement about the importance of education, with a special emphasis on the education-skills nexus. It does this by taking us on a journey through the life cycle of learning, beginning with the earliest days of life to mature workers, who may want or need to acquire new skills. Given the education is central to most global issues, from economic growth and social welfare to global information technology and entrepreneuship, this topic is highly relevant to the network of global agenda councils. No point in history has education been so essential to the well-being of society. More than ever, the labour market now demands workers who have technical attributes, knowledge and the ability to innovate and adapt to a fast-changing world where workforce compete internationally. The biggest rise in tertiary education ever seen, a 160% increase in global enrolment from 1990 to 2009 is testament to unprecedented demand for education. Crucially, quality does matter, and even it becomes evermore important, young people are too often taught antiquated curricula where the focus on teaching students is what to think, not how to think. Countries need to learn quickly what works and benefit from the best of modern ideas, methods and technology. Indeed, the way countries use their human capital has become an important factor in explaining why some, many of whom are in Asia and Latin America, remain stuck in a "middle-income trap". By the end of the decade, as research by the Mckinsey Global Institute, we will at once be faced with a shortfall of up to 40 million high-skilled workers and a surplus of up to 95 million low-skilled workers. It is evident that urgent action to improve the quality of learning, especially in the developing countries. Education systems must expand to technical education and training, which remains a viable avenue for youth who had poor quality basic education or no chance to acquire skills for work. Education is an enormous contributor to individual and collective development. How does the education-skills nexus work? Employment in the formal sector of an economy depends on an individual having the skills, at the right time, to take advantage of the economic opportunity. The bottom line is that greater alignment of education and job skills is a necessity and that lifelong skills updating is more worthwhile than ever. Actually, the story of the interaction is complex, varying among countries and among youth groups. According to World Bank surveys, 36% of firms in Latin America (69% in Brazil) contend that an "inadequately educated workforce" poses a major constraint to their activity, as do 29% of firms in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. As the global community weighs next steps on the education and skills front, this book aims to provide the latest thinking on the critical importance of education and highlight what can be done to ensure that all people around the world can benefit. We believe that we now need to take a leap to an entirely new order of education that is being facilitated by the advent of the digital age and much more interactivity than the classrooms of the past. The history of education is a core chapter in the story of human progress. It has powerfully shaped improvements in material well-being, as well as the development of human values that define our achievements and guide our behaviour. It is also an unfinished chapter with a multiplicity of paths. The options we choose will naturally reflect our circumstances and our aspirations. How can we deal with the future of our societies, our economies will depend on what the youth of today and those of a decade from now can shape. That world is unlikely to be one where everyone will still have the traditional jobs from the last century. New ways of making things, from 3D printers to robotics, will change the skills needed for manufacturing. New tech, from nanotech to biotech, will change the sorts of skills that will drive the economy. And unimaginably better information flows will empower all those who have the ability to harness them. Most people today see the economic and educational value of English-language proficiency. This view is likely to remain intimately tied to the benefits of the digital age in most countries. For that reason, the demand has grown rapidly, especially as more and more people come online. The pedagogy is not just about teaching. Create bilingual learning materials to help people improve their English skills through self-drive. On the other, it is actively trying to break down psychological barries to the idea of English learning, such as: it is scary, expensive, only for people who have high social status, embarrassing to make mistakes in the presence of others, or a difficult language to learn. Quality broadband, functional literacy and English fluency are the triangle of access that can get anyone today, a virtual front seat to learning from respected professors at Harvard, MIT, Stanford among other top universities. We are moving towards a higher education system where access to affordable quality education is limited more by one`s learning foundation, self-drive and desire to learn. The critical challenge facing the global community is to build new connectors to these learning pathways that would serve masses of people who have so far been denied the opportunities to propel their own learning.
