Until recent times, imparting knowledge was considered the primary role of institutions of higher learning. Here, students were typically stuffed with a lot of information and they were supposed to digest it to gain some knowledge and insight on the subjects they studied.
The primary mode of performance assessment was written examinations that tested the ability of the students to memorise and regurgitate he facts and figures.
This served the needs of the industry and the government for well over a century.
Skill building focus
Suddenly, the focus has shifted to skill building among students. Employers, educators and policy makers are all stressing on the need to impart skills. Why this sudden interest in skills?
All these days, did the graduates not acquire skills on the job? Did we not consider skills as inferior to knowledge? After all, skill-building was left to institutions offering vocational training, which was the refuge of students who were not fit enough for a college education. Why then, are today skills seen as superior to knowledge?
Disconnect between job and education
It all started with the criticism that many graduates who possess academic qualifications were found to be lacking job skills. Apparently a B.Com. topper did not know something as simple as how to encash a cheque. There are mechanical engineers who have no idea how an automobile functions.
The massive disconnect between academics and the industry paved the way for a new breed of graduates called ‘functional illiterates’, who possess degrees but were unfit for employment.
The other major reason why the emphasis has shifted to skills is that organisations need more ‘doers’ than ‘thinkers’. There was a time when engineers and MBAs got employed in planning, scheduling and supervising jobs. Unfortunately, those positions got eliminated owing to enterprise resource planning (ERP) and other IT solutions.
Hands on employees
At present, entry-level jobs are available only in sales, shopfloor and supply chain management; in tasks that require people who are ready to soil their hands. These jobs do not require professionally qualified graduates.
This has led to a mismatch between the graduates we produce and the people industry needs.
Additionally, the skill-mix needed to succeed has undergone a major change. Traditionally, technical skills were considered good enough for an entry-level job in corporates. However, the new kind of jobs, in sales, business development and in call-centres, require a high emotional quotient and people management skills. Consequently, soft skills are gaining strong roots in college education.
With the automation of routine jobs owing to digitisation, jobs require non-routine analytical and interpersonal skills.
In an innovation-driven economy, competencies like collaboration, creativity and problem solving are in great demand. Hence, Individual-focused traits such as persistence, curiosity and initiative should be cultivated in young minds.
A recent World Economic Forum report titled New Vision for Education – Unlocking the Potential of Education , has identified the following skills as key for the 21st Century.
Resistance to change
In this changed situation, countries that emphasised skill-based education, such as Japan and Germany, are in an advantageous position. It may be desirable to strengthen vocational education in addition to skilling in the college curriculum. But despite all these trends, colleges continue to teach theories that have limited application potential.
The reason why traditional universities continue to stress on knowledge as opposed to skills is that knowledge is easy to measure. Skill-based curriculum requires thorough revamping and re-training of the faculty. Additional investments may be needed to set up workshops and outdoor facilities for fieldwork.
Knowledge versus skills
With the ascent of skills to a central position, a natural question that arises is whether we have relegated knowledge to a secondary position. What happened to the original idea of building intellectual capability?
The fact is, that knowledge is as important as skills. Basically skills without knowledge cannot take a person very far. Students should learn not only the know-how but also the know-why.
Commoditisation of knowledge is the prime reason why skills have dethroned knowledge. Today, neither information nor knowledge offers any competitive advantage to an individual or an organisation. Search engines such as Google have commoditised information. Similarly, question and answer forums such as Quora, Focus and the like have made knowledge a commodity. The days are long gone when teachers were considered to be ‘knowers of everything’. The role of a teacher in the present context is to arouse curiosity among the students and encourage dialogue. Apart from this, teachers should offer skill-building exercises that would in turn help the students re-invent the theories internalised by them.
Overemphasis on skills?
However, there is one danger in going whole hog on a pure skill-based approach, introduced to eradicate functional illiteracy.
We will end up producing graduates with social illiteracy and ethical illiteracy.
We cannot neglect an education in the liberal arts that creates an appreciation for the finer aspects of life. During my school days, we had arts, crafts and science bundled into the school education. The curriculum was holistic and included value education, ethics and also imparted the necessary skills and knowledge to make a living.
We have thrown the baby out with the bath water by placing undue emphasis on professional education. Owing to this, school students today are coached to enter professional courses. That said, in the same way, an excessive focus on skill-based education can also turn out to be overkill if we neglect ethics, values and the fine arts. In doing this, we may end up compromising the long-term interests of the human race for the short-tem benefits of commerce and industry.
A fine balance is the need of the hour.