NASCA Learning Centre
NITIN POTDAR Senior corporate lawyer and Partner, J. Sagar Associates
How well prepared is our education system to cope with new-age careers? Is our education policy geared towards dealing with it?
I am afraid I would have to say a big NO. The world has already moved from Industrial Age to Digital Age and its fast heading towards Data Age. Data is the new currency for business and it’s at the heart of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Across all sectors ‘data analytics’ will be the next frontier and our next generation would have to be highly ‘data literate’. Unfortunately, we are no-where near! In the 50s and 60s, our qualified engineers and doctors migrated abroad for further studies.Today, XII std students are migrating overseas for further studies. The brain drain is massive and we need to be seriously concerned about it.
Do you feel our priorities are misplaced?
Our focus is still on building massive infrastructure like school buildings, massive residential complexes and transportation. Instead, our focus should have been on creating ‘technology platforms’ that allow access to multiple subjects – including technical and vocational skills – seamlessly to students across India and in all languages. Rote learning and examinations that rank students year-on-year on paper degrees should be replaced with a curriculum that develops thinking skills (like critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity), capability to analyse things and effectively communicate, working in teams, knowledge management, ethical and responsible behaviour.
Upskilling has become the need of the hour, not just for students but also teachers. But there is confusion over what needs to be upscaled? What according to you, are the most crucial attributes one needs to succeed in the future?
Absolutely! We need to upgrade both curriculum for students as well as skills of our existing teachers. And this is easily doable with the help of technology and new age communication tools. Today we all are connected on mobile phones, hundreds of television channels and the Internet. We may not be comprehensive or perfect but we need to take the first step and speed up things. For this, we need to encourage our young graduates to come forward to transform our education system. I believe in taking baby steps and making it successful rather than going in for big programs for massive transformation.
Like?
To begin with, schools on priority need to create awareness / outreach programs about new age skill sets through external resources. Existing teachers should be made to undergo small but focused informative programs. They need to be encouraged to lead the transformation. We need to involve interested students and even their parents in these learning processes and make them ambassadors of change. Most importantly, reach out to your school alumni and make them part of the transition. Regular talks. newsletters, seminars should be organised on trending topics. Most importantly schools, technical institutions and industry need to collaborate and hold half or one-day sessions. Parents need to be more sensitive and open to such new ideas. There is a lot that could be done through these informal programs.
Many schools are conscious about this issue and are taking proactive steps. Yet, the movement is slow…
I am aware that school principals today are overloaded with work and they hardly get any support. But I think time and resource management is the key for any successful principal or the leadership. We need to build leadership across levels and empower them and that’s the only success mantra! In order to succeed school principals will have to be proactive, practical and progressive. Keep experimenting! There is nothing called right or wrong.
Do you think entrepreneurship education should be introduced in schools?
Entrepreneurship education is not just about starting any business or earning money. It’s all about thinking independently, creatively and be a solution provider. It is a must-have in the school curriculum. We have been teaching academic subjects but we just don’t teach how to identify problems, find solutions, communicate ideas which is the most crucial life skill and that’s what entrepreneurship is all about.
Would you say that today’s curriculum and schools are preparing our students for jobs that won’t exist 10 years from now? In that scenario, how should academia revisit its teaching pedagogy?
We need a total overhaul of our education system. There is going to be a sea-change in the nature of jobs in the next ten years. And we had to prepare ourselves as of last decade! We are already late and cannot afford to even waste one single day.
Technology is the only solution for any transformation that we seek. And fortunately, we all have a small instrument called the mobile phone which can be our friend, philosopher and guide. We need to make it work for us instead of we becoming its slave. It is the most powerful instrument in this world. It communicates, calculates, collects information on any subject and connects us globally! Simple tutorials and awareness programs can be broadcasted to students and the teacher community. They can be made to respond and work from any place any time.
As an industry expert, what do you look for when you hire a candidate?
In addition to the domain knowledge, anyone who has the ability to learn independently, one who can proactively find solutions and happily work in teams are the most critical skills I check before hiring him or her.
As lawyers, we always say we are ‘practising lawyers’ and never ‘perfect lawyers’ even though we may have completed 30 or 40 years in active practice. That’s because learning is a continuous process. Similarly doctors also say ‘practising doctor’ which means learning continues. We are in the age not just of ‘constant change’ but ‘disruptive change’ and it is imperative to remain a student to learn new things and move forward. For instance, see the transition that has taken place in delivering messages. We have moved from pigeon to postman; from postcard to telegram; from fax to emails; from text messages to social media posts which reach millions of people across the world in a fraction of second. Isn’t that wonderful?
Is it the age then of ‘jack of all trades and master of all’?
Absolutely! Change is inevitable in each and everything that we see and experience. We need to accept and drill into our minds that ‘status quo is not good’ and nothing is going to remain constant or same. Our students, therefore, would need to be ‘jack of all and masters of many’ in order to be successful in life.
So, should the focus start right at the school level?
Yes. Absolutely. We need to catch them young! Today fortunately there is this buzz called ‘Startups’. We need to nurture this and develop at the school level.
We need to create the Startup universe – a comprehensive yet basic ecosystem starting from school education to industry connect to ensure quality is not compromised in the focus on quantity.
This value-added learning — how to identify opportunities, how to work around problems, how to foster innovation, how to overcome constraints, how to form winning teams, how to put the risk in perspective, how to strike a blend between innovation and tradition — is best imparted in the formative years of education.
Contrary to popular perception, the very notion of an enterprise is best explained on a blank slate, to a child of starry-eyed ambition while he or she is still at school.
